Sunday, August 14, 2011

Army Sgt. Matthew A. Harmon

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Matthew A. Harmon, 29, of Bagley, Minn.

Sgt Harmon was assigned to 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 172nd Infantry Brigade Grafenwoehr, Germany; died Aug. 14, 2011 in Paktika province, Afghanistan, while conducting vehicle recovery operations and encountered a secondary explosion while dismounted. Also killed was Spc. Joseph A. VanDreumel.

Sgt Harmon graduated from Fosston High School in 2000 where he was on the track team.

He enlisted in the Army in March 2005, training at Fort Jackson, SC before serving in Germany from September 2005 to July 2011. This was his third deployment, having previously deployed to Iraq twice.

Harmon met his wife, Nicole, at the University of North Dakota before he decided to enlist in the military full-time.

Classmate Collin Gravalin said they both ran track together. Gravalin was a sprinter, Harmon was a distance runner. "He could run forever, that's for sure.

He was always a positive guy; always in a good mood. And as far as track goes, he worked as hard as anyone on the team. So, he definitely put forth the effort."

Father, Tom Harmon, last spoke to his son in July, shortly before his son deployed.

"We realize he's gone and we realize that nobody forced him to do what he was doing. So we don't hold any ill-will," Harmon said. "We're mostly concerned with the children. Now they've lost their father, and it's going to be tough with them."

Sgt Harmon's awards and decorations include:

Purple Heart
Bronze Star
Army Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Army Achievement Medal
NATO Medal
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with three combat stars
Naval Unit Citation
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Ribbon
Driver and Mechanic Badge
Combat Action BAdge

Sgt Harmon was laid to rest at St. Paul Lutheran Cemetary in Lengby, MN.

Sgt Harmon is survived by his parents, Irene and Tom; wife Nicole and their three children, Danika, Vincent and Elsie; and siblings, Dean, Mark and Melissa.

Army Sgt. Matthew A. Harmon was killed in action on 8/14/11.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

sgt Harmon I will never forget you. I miss the times having to take our Bradley in to the maintenance and bull shiting while working. And taking our smoke brakes and just talking about life miss you brother. I met VanDreumel a couple times while he was helping us on my track he was a coll guy and funny loved watching sgt Harmon messing with him to do some push ups just a few for fun. It sucks walking around and noticing all the American flags are taken down now and everyone forgetting how mush it coast for freedom. hopefully my time wont be for a long while but save me a seat anyways brothers .