Fort Carson soldier honored: 'He saved thousands of lives'

The life of Sgt. 1st Class L. David Ezell can be summarized by his last moment on Earth.

Unafraid, the man nicknamed "Easy" by his Army comrades waded into a pile of garbage to disarm a bomb April 30 in a Baghdad neighborhood. He knew the bomb could kill him, but his goal was to save the lives of the Iraqis the homemade device could have slaughtered.

Something went wrong on the delicate job. The bomb detonated and Ezell died. But hundreds of times before, with the same calm demeanor, Ezell won his fight with insurgent explosives in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"He saved thousands of lives," his friend Staff Sgt. Jess Stone said after the service Thursday at the post's Soldiers Memorial Chapel.

"He was a great guy."

Ezell, 30, a bomb-disposal technician with Fort Carson's 71st Explosive Ordnance Disposal, was on his third overseas tour and had become expert in rendering insurgent-built bombs harmless.

In Iraq and Afghanistan, bombs have become the insurgent's weapon of choice, accounting for 110 of the 238 Fort Carson soldiers killed in the war.

In a letter from Iraq read at the service, Lt. Col. Robert Merkel said Ezell's skills were in high demand in Baghdad.

"He was considered the best we have to offer," Merkel wrote.

In a year of combat in Iraq, troops of the 71st had disarmed 9,000 explosives. Many of those were by Ezell and the soldiers he patiently trained in the dangerous art of bomb disposal.

Ezell's accomplishments were lauded by the Army, which twice awarded him the Bronze Star Medal.

He was an enthusiastic soldier, but friends say he was even better at being a husband and father.

Ezell talked frequently of his wife, Christy, and Stone remembers the pride Ezell showed in each milestone reached by his 2-year-old son Tristan.

"I remember when Tristan was born," Stone said. "He paraded that kid around."

He was also a proud father figure for younger troops who learned from Ezell's easygoing approach to his dangerous life.

"He has been there to be my sounding board during bad times and to have a beer with during good times," Staff Sgt. Randall Markgraf wrote in a letter that was read at the service.

Friends say they'll remember all the good times and will never forget the example Ezell set.

He'd tried every method to disarm the bomb in the middle of the Baghdad neighborhood, using robots with no success.

When that didn't work, he went in to disable the bomb by hand.

"Unfortunately, this long walk into the unknown would be his last," his commander, Capt. Ryan Gallion wrote.

Now, others in the unit will take Ezell's place and do their best to measure up.

"I promise," Gallion wrote.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com