Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard has died, age 46

[Philosoraptor]

She wasn't famous or anything, but she was much beloved, and she will be sorely missed, and I just wanted to share this sad story.

By Henry C. Jackson
The Associated Press


JOHNSTON, Iowa — The first woman promoted to the rank of command sergeant major in the Iowa Army National Guard was among those killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq, guard officials said Jan. 24.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, was a passenger on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when it crashed Jan. 20 northeast of Baghdad, officials said. She was the first woman in the history of the Iowa National Guard to be killed in combat, Iowa National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood said.

Military officials said Gabbard’s helicopter might have been shot down, but the investigation was continuing. Twelve National Guard soldiers from seven states and the U.S. Virgin Islands died in the crash.

Gabbard was 19th Iowa National Guard member and the 50th service member with Iowa ties to be killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gabbard was born in 1960 in Boone and graduated from Boone High School in 1979. She served in the National Guard for 27 years, starting in 1979, ascending to the rank of sergeant major. In her most recent post, Gabbard served as state operations sergeant major at the Iowa National Guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters in Johnston.

Gabbard’s long tenure with the Iowa National Guard made the pain from her loss acute, Hapgood said.

“She touched so many people in so many different areas of our organization,” he said.

As the first woman promoted to her rank, Gabbard was in a position to serve as a role model to other woman soldiers in particular, Hapgood said, but Gabbard never saw herself as a trail blazer, just a soldier and a leader.

“She didn’t take it as a burden,” Hapgood said. “She embraced the fact that she had gone places other people hadn’t gone before. I think she relished having soldiers look up to her.”

Gabbard deployed from Iowa on Dec. 16. She served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the National Guard Affairs Team in Baghdad. It was her first deployment to the region, Hapgood said.

Gabbard leaves behind her husband, Edward Gabbard; daughter, Melissa Danielson; mother, Mary Van Cannon; brothers, Mark and Mike Van Cannon; sister, Marla Noren; two grandchildren, five stepdaughters and a stepson.

[JeffR]

1. K & R

[uppityperson]

2. Thank you to those posting stories on the indivicuals.

RIP

[w8liftinglady]

6. I agree...we need to keep these servicemen and women "Human"

A number on a page is quickly forgotten.Not so easily forgotten are the images of a grieving family,a story of a good life so tragically wasted by war.Thank you.

[bullimiami]

3. the guard has no business being dragged into this slaughter.

they are not the 'volunteer' military the bastards keep touting that "signed up" for this.

they signed up for the national guard, to protect their state and help with disasters, they were available as a last resort if we were in a war for our lives, like ww2. this is a macho exercise of arrogance and hubris by men that should rot in jail for their remaining time on earth.

[Philosoraptor]

4. I couldn't agree more.

[bullimiami]

18. This abuse is going to destroy the guard and the military for

a generation.

Bush and the evil that orbits him did this, all on their own. This is the world they wanted, and created.

[Tellurian]

27. Our sentiments exactly! RIP dear lady, you did well...

[Philosoraptor]

5. .................

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. She should never have been in Iraq in the first place, much like the rest of our troops!

Damn george bu$h to Hell!

[WinkyDink]

13. EXACTLY. Her death is a SIN OF the Bush Maladmin.

[Philosoraptor]

8. ................

[havocmom]

9. '...the worst of men must fight and the best of men must die.'

The lyrics of that old song need updating.

:patriot: to Sgt. Major Gabbard.

DUers, add a bit more passion to your fight against the liars who got her and so many others killed just for the profit they could reap. Step up and keep the pressure on until the troops are home.

[WinkyDink]

28. The Sinking of the Reuben James

http://www.geocities.com/lilandr/kantoj/usonanglaj/ReubenJames1.htm

Years later, Fred Hellerman of the Weavers (which recorded the song) added this verse:

Well, many years have passed since those brave men have gone
And those cold icy waters are still and they're calm.
Many years have passed, but still I wonder why
The worst of men must fight and the best of men must die.

http://play.rhapsody.com/thekingstontrio/liveatthecrazyhorse/sinkingofrubenjames?didAutoplayBounce=true

[havocmom]

33. One of my favorite songs

And now, we need to add women in there somehow.

:cry:

[zbdent]

10. Watch Republicans "celebrate" her service

after decades of disparaging "women serving in the military" ...

[MADem]

15. Ah yes, Newt Gingrich, and women in foxholes getting "infections"--remember that?

Those dirty women, who can't keep their hoo-haas clean!!!!

And further, like trench warfare is the order of the day, at any rate!

Of course, what would Newt know about war--he probably watched one too many documentary about WWOne, I suspect....

It wouldn't surprise me at all if the GOP tries to lionize this woman, all the while trying to reduce the benefits her survivors might get...

[Clinton_Co_Regulator]

22. I remember that comment by the Newt

[Philosoraptor]

11. ................

[SammyWinstonJack]

12. K&R

[BOSSHOG]

14. She was a role model to ALL HER SOLDIERS

not just the women. You don't get to be a command Sgt Major by just letting time pass you by. Honesty, integrity, acumen, professionalism.

SHE WAS A LEADER OF HER SOLDIERS.

Something chickenhawks know nothing about.

[Straight Shooter]

16. You can tell by her photo she was damn proud to be a member of the National Guard.

What a rotten waste of a good life.

Hey george, are you going to tell this family, "How do you know she would have had a good life?" like you told that mother who lost her son?

She had a good life, george. She HAD a good life. You took that life away, and there's nothing you can do, nothing you can say, that will ever justify her loss.

[erpowers]

32. More Information About Quote

I do not think you are mistaken about your quote in which Bush asks a family member how they knew that someone would have a good life. I would just like to have some type of link so I can find out who he did this to and try to figure out why it did not make more of a story. Believe me this man's heartlessness never stops shocking me. I just do not see how a person any person could justify the death of someone's child by asking them how they knew the person would have had a good life. I would say that anyone who gets to live to a late age pretty much so has a fairly good life. So many people wonder why it is so easy for people to compare Bush to Hitler I am not trying to make light of what Hitler did, but when someone makes comments like the quote you listed it is hard not to think about Hitler. You would just think people would not be that cold hearted.

[judaspriestess]

17. RIP

thank you for your service.

[Philosoraptor]

19. ---------------

[Blue Gardener]

20. Flags will by flying at half-staff

Here in Iowa on Tuesday. Our new Democratic governor, Chet Culver, I believe will be honoring all Iowa soldiers killed in the line of duty in this manner.

[Joey Liberal]

21. That is so damned sad

She looks like she was a great woman. She must have been a good Soldier to make it all the way to Sergeant Major. What a tragic waste.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

23. RIP

:cry: :patriot: :cry:

[maggiegault]

24. Two Heartbroken Grandchildren...

...denied their grandmother because a hatemongering war-loving maniac decided to lie this great nation into a war for oil.

I just can't...words are failing me. GRANDMOTHERS are dying over in Iraq. GRANDMOTHERS.

How can this be happening? Why won't it stop? Why isn't what we are doing to stop it working? Why are we letting Bush win?

[Philosoraptor]

26. GRANDMOTHERS are dying over in Iraq. GRANDMOTHERS.

It doesn't seem real does it?

[Philosoraptor]

25. ................

[Philosoraptor]

29. GRANDMOTHERS are dying over in Iraq. GRANDMOTHERS.

[PuraVidaDreamin]

30. And her death was unnecessary

another death because of Bush's lies.

[Vinca]

31. Very sad. I'm sure she was doing her job well,

but what the hell is a 46 year old woman doing in combat? (Or a 46 year old man, for that matter.) This is another episode in George Bush's upside down world.

[NEOBuckeye]

34. War is Stupid n/t

[Philosoraptor]

35. GRANDMOTHERS are dying over in Iraq. GRANDMOTHERS