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Wall Painting in Iraq Memorializes Fallen Soldiers, Sent to Fort Hood

By Staff Sgt. Garrett Ralston

BABIL, Iraq - As their deployment draws to a close, Soldiers from Maintenance Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, are bringing home a monument they created to honor two brothers-in-arms who lost their lives during Operation New Dawn.

On 2nd of April, an attack on Contingency Operating Site Kalsu claimed the lives of Staff Sgt. Quadi Hudgins and Staff Sgt. Christian Garcia, both members of the Convoy Security Platoon of Maintenance Troop.

Immediately afterward, the grieving members of the platoon began poring over ideas of how their fallen leaders could be memorialized.

"We all thought about getting a tattoo the whole platoon would like," said Spc. Courtney Aiken, a CSP member originally from Hillsboro, N.H. "Myself and some of the Soldiers in the platoon decided we would paint a wall mural to represent our brothers."

The platoon spoke with the troop commander about ideas for the painting and after he agreed to the design, they went to work.

"I wanted to make sure we had something to see every day when we all came to work," Capt. Robert McClelland, commander of maintenance troop and a native of Edinburg, Texas, said of the plan to create the wall painting. "Once we decided on a design, the Soldiers took off on the project."

The Soldiers designed a painting that would best represent their fallen brothers and for both, the wall would bear symbols of what they loved.

For Hudgins, a promising young boxer and fond of anything related to his home state of Louisiana, the emblem of the New Orleans Saints is at the top. Hanging below it are a pair of boxing gloves with his daughter's name, Nyima, printed on the wristbands. His nickname, "Hot Boy," is written below in bold letters.

Opposite Hudgins' design, a sketch of a large Philippine flag with a "G" centered in its colors hangs down, as Garcia was always very proud of his heritage. Soldiers recalled that he often spoke of his pride in his home country.

"The wall doesn't mean anything by itself," said Aiken. "It is the painting we covered it with that makes it special to us."

After completing the work of painting the tall standing barrier wall, the unit dedicated it in a ceremony, and an American flag that survived the April attack was raised and flown above the wall that was then kept lighted during the night.

McClelland said he wanted the wall lit so that it could always be seen and others would not forget. The maintenance troop Soldiers felt connected to the wall said McClelland, and before long, a plan was hatched to bring the wall home to Fort Hood, Texas. "I spoke to senior leaders within 3rd ACR about shipping the wall home and got their blessing to set it up," said McClelland. "We got a signed document from U.S. Customs allowing us to send it back."

After the wall's exterior was treated with a sealant, it was securely braced to rack where it would begin its journey to the U.S. Upon arrival, it will be placed on the grounds of the 3rd ACR museum on Fort Hood.

"The memorial will be erected not only to commemorate Hudgins and Garcia but all the fallen heroes in the regiment who gave their lives during our yearlong mission," said McClelland. "It will be awesome to see it standing back on Fort Hood where friends and family can see it too. The way I see it, this was the least we could do to honor these fine Soldiers."