Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard

Died January 20, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

46, of Polk City, Iowa; assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Iowa Army National Guard, Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa; died in Baghdad on Jan. 20 when the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter she was in crashed. Also killed were Col. Brian D. Allgood, Staff Sgt. Darryl D. Booker, Sgt. 1st Class John G. Brown, Lt. Col. David C. Canegata, Command Sgt. Maj. Roger W. Haller, Col. Paul M. Kelly, Staff Sgt. Floyd E. Lake, Cpl. Victor M. Langarica, Capt. Sean E. Lyerly, Maj. Michael V. Taylor and 1st Sgt. William T. Warren.

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Iowa soldier killed in helicopter crash in Iraq

By Henry C. Jackson

The Associated Press

JOHNSTON, Iowa — The first woman promoted to the rank of command sergeant major in the Iowa Army National Guard was among those killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Iraq, guard officials said Jan. 24.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, was a passenger on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when it crashed Jan. 20 northeast of Baghdad, officials said. She was the first woman in the history of the Iowa National Guard to be killed in combat, Iowa National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood said.

Military officials said Gabbard’s helicopter might have been shot down, but the investigation was continuing. Twelve National Guard soldiers from seven states and the U.S. Virgin Islands died in the crash.

Gabbard was 19th Iowa National Guard member and the 50th service member with Iowa ties to be killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gabbard was born in 1960 in Boone and graduated from Boone High School in 1979. She served in the National Guard for 27 years, starting in 1979, ascending to the rank of sergeant major. In her most recent post, Gabbard served as state operations sergeant major at the Iowa National Guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters in Johnston.

Gabbard’s long tenure with the Iowa National Guard made the pain from her loss acute, Hapgood said.

“She touched so many people in so many different areas of our organization,” he said.

As the first woman promoted to her rank, Gabbard was in a position to serve as a role model to other woman soldiers in particular, Hapgood said, but Gabbard never saw herself as a trail blazer, just a soldier and a leader.

“She didn’t take it as a burden,” Hapgood said. “She embraced the fact that she had gone places other people hadn’t gone before. I think she relished having soldiers look up to her.”

Gabbard deployed from Iowa on Dec. 16. She served as the noncommissioned officer in charge of the National Guard Affairs Team in Baghdad. It was her first deployment to the region, Hapgood said.

Gabbard leaves behind her husband, Edward Gabbard; daughter, Melissa Danielson; mother, Mary Van Cannon; brothers, Mark and Mike Van Cannon; sister, Marla Noren; two grandchildren, five stepdaughters and a stepson.

A phone message left with Edward Gabbard was not immediately returned.

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Funeral set for Iowa National Guard member

The Associated Press

JOHNSTON, Iowa — Funeral services have been scheduled for an Iowa National Guard member killed in Iraq last week.

Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn Gabbard, 46, of Polk City was a passenger on the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed Saturday northeast of Baghdad, killing 12 troops.

Visitation services will be held from 3-8 p.m. Monday at Central Christian Church in Boone. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Boone High School gymnasium. She will be buried in Madrid with full military honors.

Gabbard was born in 1960 in Boone and graduated from Boone High School in 1979. She served in the National Guard for 27 years.

Gabbard was the first woman in the Iowa National Guard’s history to be killed in combat, said Iowa National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Greg Hapgood.

The Army has said the cause of the crash is under investigation. But a Pentagon official has said debris at the crash site indicated the helicopter was downed by a surface-to-air missile.

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Flags at half staff for fallen soldier

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — Gov. Chet Culver ordered that all flags in Iowa be flown at half staff from 8 a.m. until sunset Jan. 30 to honor Command Sgt. Maj. Marilyn L. Gabbard, who died in Iraq on Jan. 20.

The directive — Culver’s first executive order as governor — honored Gabbard, 46, of Polk City, who was the first woman in the history of the Iowa National Guard to die in combat. Gabbard also achieved the highest rank for a woman in the Iowa National Guard’s history.

The order will also apply to future casualties that involve either the Iowa National Guard or Iowans serving in other branches of the armed forces. Under Culver’s order, if a soldier is killed while on duty, all state flags will be hung at half staff.

Gabbard was killed, along with 12 other troops, when the Black Hawk helicopter she was flying in crashed northeast of Baghdad. Officials are investigating whether the helicopter was shot down.

Visitation services were held Jan. 29 at Central Christian Church in Boone.

Funeral services were held Jan. 30 at the Boone High School gymnasium. She was buried in Madrid with full military honors.