May Jun '10 Saber.indd - First Cavalry Division Association

Page 9
9th CAV News - ON POINT
Lou “Rocket” Rochat
181 High Oak
Universal City, TX 78148
(210) 658-1651
Apache16@aol.com
I know that
I told all of the
loyal readers
that my article
in the last issue
of the Saber
would be my
one and only article as Lou ROCHAT (Rocket) would resume his old duties and
write all future articles. A few days ago COL BOOTH called me and asked if
I would consider writing another article because he felt that Lou was not quite
up to the task yet. I agreed and began pondering what I could write about that
would be of interest to all of you. A couple of days after I spoke with COL
BOOTH, I called Lou to check on his progress. He sounded strong and was very
enthusiastic about getting on his computer and writing the article for the Saber.
He was concerned that he may not have the energy but was ready to try. He
mentioned all of this before I told him that COL BOOTH had asked me to write
an article. I told him about my conversation with COL BOOTH and he said go
ahead because he wasn’t sure if he was up to the task. I made him agree that he
should write the article and I would also start working on an article. We agreed
that if he couldn’t finish his article then I would submit mine.
Now it is Thursday, May 6, 2010 and Lou has been readmitted to the hospital
a couple of days ago. He was having trouble breathing and was placed in ICU,
diagnosed with pneumonia in one lung. Since then he has started bleeding internally
and has to receive a blood transfusion. His heart is apparently beating
erratically in spite of the pacemaker and has caused his kidney to fail. With all of
this and seemingly no hope of a complete recovery, the family and Lou decided
to take him out of the hospital, to return home to be as comfortable as possible
with his family around him. Arrangements have been made with Hospice to
come in and take care of Lou in his final hours. Lou’s body has been through so
much it just can’t take anymore surgeries.
People are already contacting me to ask how I am doing and I appreciate
everyone’s concern. I am not doing well emotionally however. I never expected
to be writing about Lou going home to die. When I gave him a kidney I had
every intention of going fishing with Lou and for Lou to enjoy many years of
improved health with his family by his side. This was not meant to be. Lou has
been discharged from the hospital several times since the transplant on January
13th only to be readmitted a few days later each time. See I’m an eternal optimist
and the scenario that is playing out now was never an option for me. It is not as
if I didn’t know that this might happen, it is just that I never considered anything
but improving Lou’s health.
Actually a part of the interview process at Christus Transplant Institute was
questions about how would you feel if the recipient rejected your kidney or even
died from the transplant. Of course being the optimist, I would respond that I am
aware of that risk but it will not bother me. I only said that because to me it was
not going to happen. I could only deal with the bright side of the transplant and
that after the surgery I would see a marked improvement in Lou. Then within
a few days, we would both be out of the hospital looking back on the transplant
as just another adventure. But that was not to be as Lou continued to remain in
Division Doings
Continued from pg. 7.
CSM James Norman, 1st BCT,
presents a donation check to the
Executive Director of the 1st
Cavalry Division Association Dennis
Webster.
Division Memorial.
On a rainy day in front of the division’s
memorial on Cooper Field, COL Tobin
GREEN, 1st BCT’s commander, along
with CSM James NORMAN presented
CSM (Ret) Dennis WEBSTER, executive
director for the 1st Cavalry Division
Association, with a check for $2,500
for the division’s Memorial Fund, April
16.
“As we went through the process of
having a golf tournament and a brigade
dining-in upon redeployment, it was
a unanimous consensus of everyone
involved that we do the right thing with
the money in donating it to the memorial
fund,” Norman said.
Norman and Green pieced together
the small, last-minute ceremony which
was a surprise for Webster, who was
there attending the 3rd BCT’s change
of command ceremony.
“This memorial was designed by the
Soldier’s of the division and it’s [the
association’s] honor to keep adding
names to it as necessary and we are
always appreciative of the support of
the Soldiers,” Webster said.
Also in attendance to witness the check
presentation were MG Daniel ALLYN, 1st Cavalry Division’s commanding general,
and CSM Rory MALLOY, the division’s command sergeant major.
“The memorial inspires all of us who continue to serve and honor the sacrifice
of our fallen heroes who have gone before us,” ALLYN said. “It also adds to the
rich tradition and history of our division and the fact that the ‘Ironhorse’ Brigade
is donating such a large sum of money to the memorial fund is just awesome.”
Malloy said he feels the donation speaks very highly of their command climate.
“Without the support from the brigades like 1st Brigade and what they’re doing
we wouldn’t have the type of monument like we do to remember our fallen
Warriors,” he said
Furthermore, each of the units within the division will continue to have morale
raising activities and unit fundraisers. And for units like the 1st BCT, more
funds will be donated to honor those fallen heroes by contributing to the 1st Cav.
MAY/JUNE, 2010
the hospital; but I kept telling myself that it was only a temporary set back and
that Lou will get better.
I continued this illusion up until last night (Wednesday, May 5, 2010) when Ann
called and told me that they were bringing Lou home and arrangements had been
made to have Hospice provide the final care for Lou. It was at this moment that I
felt like I had been kicked hard in the groin and couldn’t catch my breath. I only
slept off and on throughout the night and it is only today I am slowly coming to
grip with the reality that Lou’s time on this earth is short.
I am not the kind of person that will now second guess if what I did was the
right thing. It was the right thing and if I could do it all over again I would. It
was a gamble and we lost. To improve Lou’s life and to give him a few more
years was well worth the risk. It will however take time for me to be able to
accept the fact that it didn’t work. I know that I will get through this, because I
have the support of so many people that have been calling, writing, e-mailing and
donating to Lou and I. While I will now need emotional support from everyone
more than ever, I ask that you all give all of your support and prayers to Ann and
the rest of Lou’s family. That will help me more than anything at this time.
I want everyone to know that when Lou passes away, this country will lose yet
another great hero. But I can assure you that he will not be forgotten! Thanks
to all of you for your help during this endeavor.
Editors Note: Lou died on 29 May. More information in the next issue.
A Post office in Georgetown, Texas will be named after a Lieutenant who died
in Iraq while serving with A Troop, 6-9th Cavalry in Iraq. The following is from
the Round Rock, Texas newspaper (Brad Stutzman, Editor) and was provided to
the Saber by Bob Tagge.
On Saturday, May 29 - almost three years to the day after 1st Lieutenant Kile WEST
was killed in Iraq - the U.S. Post Office in Georgetown will be renamed in his honor.
WEST, a 2001 Hutto High School graduate, will be recognized during an 11 a.m.
ceremony, said John STONE, spokesman for District 31 U.S. Rep. John CARTER.
Plans for the renaming have been ongoing for months, with STONE coordinating
scheduling with postal authorities and WEST’s family members.
“It would be appropriate with it being Memorial Day [weekend] to designate it in honor
of a fallen soldier,” STONE said. “Also, 1LT WEST was killed on Memorial Day.”
WEST lost his life on May 28, 2007, when the Bradley fighting vehicle
he was commanding hit an improvised explosive device as WEST and his
crew were trying to rescue a soldier in a downed helicopter. He was 23.
The facility that will bear WEST’s name is the U.S. Post Office at 2300 Scenic
Drive in Georgetown, located just east of Interstate 35 at the Leander Road exit.
At the time of his Memorial Day 2007 death, WEST family friend Cindy
ALLEN-LOTT of Hutto said young Kile had developed two passions early on:
football and the U.S. Army. The WEST family moved to Round Rock when
Kile was in seventh-grade and he completed his high school years in Hutto.
WEST competed in football, baseball and track, and also belonged to Future
Farmers of America. After graduating from Stephen F. Austin University in 2005,
WEST received Army training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was stationed at Fort
Hood in Killeen and deployed to Iraq on October 3, 2006.
Ron LIVINGSTON, Apache 29 March 1969 – March 1970, 10707 Baldwin Ave.,
NE, Albuquerque, NM 87112, (505) 237-2291, .
Division’s Memorial Fund.
Long Knife Troops Shapen Skills During FTX
FORT HOOD, Texas—Soldiers assigned to the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st
Cavalry Division conducted critical training during their brigade field training
exercise on Fort Hood April 7- 18 prior to their upcoming overseas deployment
later this year.
Troops had the chance to work together as a unit, as they prepared to transition
over to their advise and assist mission with the Iraqi Security Forces this fall.
“This field training exercise is a major milestone in terms of preparation for
our mission in northern Iraq,” said COL Brian WINSKI, the brigade commander.
“We’ve conducted, over the last six months, a number of individual training
densities, gunnery densities and this is our first opportunity to do collective
training focused at the platoon level for the tasks that they’re going to execute
in northern Iraq.”
Throughout the exercise, which also included key leader engagements, mission
planning and battle drill rehearsals, leadership integrated realistic scenarios to
prepare troops for working in Iraq.
“The cornerstone of this FTX has been the situational training exercise lanes,
which are resourced with role players that replicated Iraqi Security Forces, they
replicated Iraqi civilians and then we converted a number of the urban ops facilities
here on Fort Hood to replicate Iraqi towns,” said Winski, from Milwaukee,
Wisconsin.
Performing multiple iterations of various situations and missions that they’re
going to face in Iraq, Soldiers refined their standard operating procedures and
their reaction techniques. Troops conducted joint planning and mission execution
with their “Iraqi Army and police” partners, engaged “civilian Iraqi leaders”
to gain their assistance in apprehending criminals targeting the Iraqi people and
defended themselves against enemy attacks. Units also took part in mass casualty
training (MASCAL), which gave the troops in the brigade the opportunity
to refine their basic combat lifesaving skills.
The training helped new Soldiers get acquainted with the unit and learn how
the unit operates. For all Soldiers, the training allowed them to leave with the
highest level of proficiency at the platoon level.
“The unique thing to the FTX, at the platoon level, the training is enhanced
significantly because the entire brigade is in the field so we’re able to support
the training exercises that they’re doing with all the brigade enablers, including
our Shadow UAV’s, including the Army aviation support; including doing all
their sustainment functions from the field allowing them to focus on the training
itself,” said Winski.
Division Web Page Tells the First Team Story
For all the news on the Division, visit the official web site of the 1st Cavalry
Division at , a quality site run by the 1CD
Public Affairs office. Check out the Cavalry Charge for some regular updates
on the activities of the Division.