RIP brother
FORT STEWART, Ga. --- The red flag of the 92nd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division was carefully stretched out and pressed behind the glass of a large wood frame.
The memento stood guard, propped against a newly planted Eastern redbud placed along Warriors Walk in honor of Army Pvt. Reece D. Moreno.
A new wind chime in a branch above tinkled in the brisk March breeze. Its song joined a chorus of chimes scattered across the post's grove of budding trees -- trees planted in honor of the division's 393 soldiers who have died fighting in America's global war against terrorism.
"You're the little brother I always wanted to have," read one note in black ink on the flag's bright-red field.
"Proud to have served with you," read another.
"He was a real fun and energetic person," said Spc. Jose Diaz, a friend of Pvt. Moreno. "He always had a joke or was making people laugh."
Spc. Diaz said it was Pvt. Moreno's easygoing nature that helped make the two fast friends.
They joined the Army on the same day at a recruiting office in Florida. They endured the rigors of basic training at Fort Knox, Ky. They were assigned to Fort Stewart, the 3rd Infantry Division and the 92nd Engineer Battalion. And they went to war together.
On Friday, Spc. Diaz stood at attention and paid tribute to his fallen friend as hundreds of Fort Stewart soldiers, families and friends honored Pvt. Moreno and six other men who died.
"Soldiers and civilians alike will walk this path and reflect on their sacrifice for our freedom," garrison commander Col. Todd Buchs said during a monthly ceremony that fell on the five-year anniversary of the 3rd Infantry Division's run up to Baghdad from a staging area in Kuwait.
Families stayed after the ceremony to decorate the trees.
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