Family, comrades remember fallen soldiers' bright smiles, loving natures

More than 500 people packed a chapel at Fort Carson on Wednesday, many of them left standing, to mourn six soldiers from the post killed in Afghanistan.

The six died in August and September, victims of a burgeoning insurgency in Afghanistan that has claimed 25 lives from the post since June, including nine who died this month.

Eulogists highlighted the individual traits of the six: 1st Lt. Tyler E. Parten, Staff Sgt. Randy M. Haney, Sgt. David A. Davis, Sgt. Youvert Loney, Pfc. Matthew E. Wildes and Pfc. William L. Meredith.

But commanders said they shared one thing in common: heroism.

“As we mourn the loss of six heroes, the price of freedom echoes in the deepest recesses in our souls,” said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Houston, a chaplain who presided over the service.

Parten paid that price as he charged up a hill to rout an insurgent band that was blasting away at comrades from another platoon in the 4th Brigade Combat Team.

His mother, Lona Parten, had told him to be careful and to let others lead the charge.

“He told me ‘Mom, they’re not going to follow me if I don’t go first,’” Lona Parten said after the service.

An outgoing man with a flair for music, Parten’s ashes will be scattered atop Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania — the peak he climbed with his brother after graduating the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

“He inspired everyone around him,” his mother said. “He believed in what he was doing.”

Loney inspired those around him without saying a word.

A native of the Federated States of Micronesia, Loney died when his 4th Brigade Combat Team patrol was hit by insurgents using a recoilless rifle.

“He spent his final moment on Earth trying to defend his gunner and driver,” Capt. Shaun Conlin wrote in a letter read at the service.

Loney was self-conscious of his thick accent, and seldom said more than “roger” to acknowledge commands.

But others watched him gutting out long hikes in spite of painful back problems. They saw him cheerfully, if silently, complete every task he was given.

“He let his actions do all the talking,” Conlin wrote.

Davis would have been upset at all the crying in the chapel Wednesday.

The Army truck driver, who died when insurgents shelled Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, always had a smile on his face and a good joke on his tongue, eulogist Lt. Col. Thomas Rivard said of the soldier from the 43rd Sustainment Brigade.

“He brought laughter and good times to the unit,” Rivard said.

A father of six, Davis was supposed to be starting mid-tour leave on the day his body was returned to U.S. soil.

“He most looked forward to being home and making dinner for his kids,” Rivard said.

Wildes had a childlike look about him that made superiors question whether he would fit in the Army.

“I didn’t quite know what to think of him,” Capt. Mike Erlandson wrote in a letter from Afghanistan that was read at the service.

The 18-year-old died when his patrol was hit with insurgent machine gun fire and a roadside bomb.

By then he’d proven to Erlandson and everyone else that he fit in.

“He did as every good soldier does — exactly what he was told,” Erlandson wrote of the easy-going kid with a Louisiana drawl.

Haney was a teacher and father-figure to many younger soldiers in his 4th Brigade Combat Team platoon.

“He was a great guy, a good leader and a good father,” his widow, Katie Haney, said after the service.

When the notification team knocked on her door on Labor Day weekend, “I thought he was hurt, then they ask you to sit down and you know it’s not good.”

Haney died when his truck was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade during an escort mission in Afghanistan.

“He lived his life defending others,” Katie Haney said.

Meredith gave his life in a blast while hunting for roadside bombs along major supply routes, a mission that defended soldiers and civilians alike from the insurgents’ weapon of choice.

Capt. Jonathan Davis remembered when Meredith first showed up at Fort Carson’s 4th Engineer Battalion, fresh from basic training.

“He was like a confused student arriving at a new school,” Davis said.

But from that first day, Meredith wore a smile.

“Seeing him without a smile instantly prompted the question — what’s wrong?” Davis said.

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