Marine Major Gerald M. Bloomfield II

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Major Gerald M. Bloomfield II, 38, of Ypsilanti, Michigan.

Maj Bloomfield died when his AH-1W Super Cobra helicopter crashed while flying in support of security and stabilization operations near Ar Ramadi, Iraq. He was with the Marine Light-Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, Marine Aircraft Group 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, California. During Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, II MEF (Forward).

A helicopter crash in Iraq,claims the life of a Marine with roots in mid-Michigan. Major Gerald Bloomfield died on Tuesday while serving in Iraq. The Marine is a Fowlerville High School graduate who died after a crash in his Cobra helicopter.
Bloomfield's family lives in Livingston County.

Kate Kerch, sister: "He was just passionate, passionate about everything."

Passion was something major Gerald Bloomfield had in spades. As a kid in the 80s, he was known around Fowlerville as a daredevil, a free spirit. His sisters remember once how Jerry, or Jer as they called him, got stuck with a friend on a frozen lake.

Kate Kerch: "They were doing donuts and the car went into the lake, and they just sat on the hood and laughed."

But those who knew Jerry, also knew he was smart.

Paula Wallace, sister: "Smart, smart, smart."

At Eastern Michigan University he earned double degrees in math and physics. Before graduating in '89, he joined the Marines. Becoming and officer and eventually a pilot. Y ears later, married and with a son, he was a career military man who believed in the job he was doing in Iraq.

Paula: "By being there, he was protecting us and everything we have here."

And he also believed in the freedom and the future of the country he was fighting in. He wrote about it in email sent home.

Kate: "It's not a 3rd world country. I believe it has hope. He wanted them to experience some of the same freedoms we have here."

And it's his sisters wish that people who knew her brother in Fowlerville understand this, a s well as the people of Iraq and in the country he was so proud to defend. Major Bloomfield will be laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

Marine Major Gerald M. Bloomfield II was killed in action on 11/02/05.