Army Sgt. 1st Class Terry L. Pasker

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Terry L. Pasker, 39, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa

SFC Pasker was assigned to 334th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Iowa National Guard, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; died July 9, 2011 in Panjshir province, Afghanistan, when enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

Civilian contractor, Paul Protzenko, Army vet and retired US Trooper, (there to train Afghan police), was in the vehicle with SFC Pasker when an Afghan security officer stopped their vehicle and opened fire. Both men died at the scene.

MSgt Todd Epperlie, in the vehicle in front of SFC Pasker, shot and killed the Afghan guard. MSgt Epperlie was wounded in the gunfight, but survived.

SFC Pasker, serving as an Electronic Maintenance Supervisor this deployment, had previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. He was due to return to Iowa later this month.

SFC Pasker graduated from Lisbon High School in 1990. He enlisted in the Army in July 1990 and joined the Iowa National Guard in April 1995. He was a carpenter and owned a contracting business.

After 20 years of service, Pasker was planning to retire next year and have kids.

Friend, SFC Michael Gronewold, said Pasker was an upbeat, religious man. “He was very well-liked. He knew how to take care of his soldiers,” Gronewold said. He was a hard worker,”

SFC Pasker is survived by his parents, Mary and David; wife, Erica; brother, Andrew, and two sisters, Christine and Rebecca.
Pasker is survived by his wife, Erica; his parents, Mary and David Pasker of Blairstown; a brother, Andrew, of Lisbon; and two sisters, Christine Ross of Oakland, Tenn., and Rebecca Southard of Salem, Ore. Funeral arrangements are pending.

A friend, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Gronewold, said Pasker was an upbeat, religious man.

“He was very well-liked. He knew how to take care of his soldiers,” Gronewold said in a news conference at Camp Dodge in Johnston.

In civilian life, Pasker was a carpenter who owned a contracting business.

“He was a hard worker,” Gronewold said. “You could tell he had that construction mentality.”

Pasker enlisted in the Army in 1990 and joined the National Guard in 1995. He previously served in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2005.

Gronewold said Pasker and his wife had been married about five years, and they intended to start a family after he retired from the military next year.

Pasker and Eipperle were among a handful of Iowa Guard troops who were mentoring Afghan police and army leaders in Panjshir province. Gronewold said his friend’s main role was to maintain electronic equipment.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Terry L. Pasker was killed in action on 7/9/11.