Marine Staff Sgt. Brian D. Bland

Died January 26, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Weston, Wyo.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; killed Jan. 26 when the CH-53E helicopter in which he was riding crashed near Rutbah, Iraq. Twenty-nine Marines and one sailor also were killed.

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Wyoming town mourns fallen Marine

By Curtis B. Wackerle

Associated Press

NEWCASTLE, Wyo. — Schools here were closed Thursday as the town mourned Staff Sgt. Brian Bland, who mourners said lived and died with honor.

A crowd of at least 700 filled the Newcastle High School auditorium to remember Bland, 26, of Newcastle, who was among 26 Hawaii-based Marines who died in a helicopter crash Jan. 26 in western Iraq.

“Brian has finished the race. He has kept the faith,” said the Rev. Leslie Barnett. “If you value what he has done, this sacrifice needs to be made meaningful through your lives.”

More than 40 Marines were also at the service, the focal point of which was Bland’s flag-draped coffin and a formal military photo of him.

A friend of Bland’s, 1st Sgt. John Waddell, told the mourners he enjoyed serving with him.

“It’s not cool to say ‘I love you,’ in the Marines,” Waddell said. “I never told him I loved him, but I did.”

Waddell recounted that Bland didn’t always agree with his orders, but it was for good reasons. “If he was giving me a hard time, it was because he was looking out for his Marines,” he said.

He also remembered how Bland was legendary around their base in Kaneohe for riding his motorcycle on its rear wheel and for being in top physical shape. “By any measure, Sgt. Bland remains a hero,” he said.

Waddell related stories from Marines who had served with Bland in Iraq, like how he ordered a tank to ram a hole into a building so a group of Marines who were pinned down by enemy fire could get out safely.

Barnett said that when Bland was a boy, he saved money as a paperboy to buy his first horse, and went on to compete in local rodeos. When he was a teenager, she said, he saved money from working at Pizza Hut to buy his first motorcycle.

Bland joined the Marines after graduating from Newcastle High School in 1995. He later graduated from drill sergeant school. His mother, Bev Arndetson, was on hand when the first platoon he instructed graduated from boot camp, Barnett said.

In his last communication with his family, Bland said he was going to help secure the Jan. 30 Iraqi elections. He also said he might be leaving the war zone soon, according to Barnett.

Friends said Bland had planned to stay in the service until he retired.

On Sunday, as a procession led Bland’s body through Newcastle, people lined the streets to pay tribute.

The CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter that Bland was riding in crashed near Rutbah in western Iraq. Bland was the 11th serviceman with ties to Wyoming to be killed in action since 2001.