Army Master Sgt. Clinton W. Cubert

Remember Our Heroes

Army Master Sgt. Clinton W. Cubert, 38, of Lawrenceburg, Ky.

Master Sgt Cubert was assigned to the 2113th Transportation Company, Kentucky Army National Guard, Paducah, Ky.; died April 16 in the Lexington Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lexington, Ky., of injuries sustained Sept. 11, 2005, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during combat operations in Samarra, Iraq.

Cubert was ‘outside the mold’, a ‘trendsetter’

FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Army National Guard’s 2113th Transportation Company was already on tour in Iraq last year when it received word that a fourth platoon needed to be added to the unit to work as a convoy escort.

The unit didn’t have any experience in protecting large convoys against insurgent attacks in the war-torn country, but Capt. William Serie didn’t hesitate when he named then-Sgt. Clinton Cubert as the new platoon’s leader.

“He was the most dedicated in making sure his soldiers were trained, equipped and ready,” Serie said Monday in a telephone interview from Paducah. “People use the word dedicated and outstanding and things of that nature, but I think those words don’t really express what he did for us. He was truly a person that was outside the mold.”

Cubert was on patrol last Sept. 11 when a roadside bomb went off near the Humvee he was riding in near Samarra. Cubert died Sunday morning at Lexington Veterans Affairs Hospital of the injuries he suffered in the attack. He was 38.

Cubert, who lived in Lawrenceburg, was a 19-year veteran of the National Guard and worked in the combined support maintenance shop at the Guard’s headquarters in Frankfort.

In Iraq, he trained the 30 members of his platoon to develop new tactics in making sure the units they protected in transit arrived at their destination safely.

“When you talk about his platoon, they were the people that came up with a lot of the ideas and the tactics we used in transport,” Serie said. “He was truly a trendsetter.”

Cubert is the 10th Kentucky Army National Guard soldier to die as the result of combat action in Iraq. He is survived by his wife, Amy, and their daughters, Alisha and Sarah.

“Clinton was a great father, husband and soldier,” Amy Cubert said in a statement from the Guard. “He loved his community and his country and will be terribly missed by everyone who knew him.”

Cubert received the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart during his service. He was promoted to master sergeant upon returning to Kentucky and was recognized by the Kentucky General Assembly last month. On Monday, Gov. Ernie Fletcher ordered flags at all state office buildings to be lowered to half-staff in Cubert’s honor.

— Associated Press

Army Master Sgt. Clinton W. Cubert died on 04/16/06 due to injuries sustained in the line of duty.