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CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan - Marines and sailors with 8th Communication Battalion, Task Force Belleau Wood, gathered together to honor Sgt. Kevin B. Balduf aboard Camp Leatherneck, May 19. Balduf, a native of Nashville, Tenn., was killed while working with a mentoring team that provides support to the Afghan National Civil Order Police, May 12. He was 27-years-old.
During the ceremony, friends of Balduf came forward to reflect on the type of Marine he was and how they will remember him.
Staff Sgt. Misty Rye, a team leader with Female Engagement Team 1, Task Force Belleau Wood, was close friends with Balduf for nearly nine years.
“He was an exceptional guy,” Rye said. “There was nothing he couldn’t do. He was very trustworthy and reliable.”
Sgt. Dustin Swope, a radio equipment operator with Alpha Company, 8th Comm. Bn., Task Force Belleau Wood, remembers the day Balduf first checked into his platoon. Balduf was in his Alpha uniform and was instantly made the new platoon sergeant upon arrival. Without hesitation, or a change in clothes, Balduf immediately went to work.
“I looked up to him a lot,” Swope said. “He cared for his Marines. That’s what brought us together. He became a really good friend.”
Balduf is survived by his wife and two daughters.
| Date Taken: | 05.19.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2011 09:08 |
| Story ID: | 70745 |
| Location: | CAMP LEATHERNECK, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,160 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Fallen 8th Comm. Marine Honored at Leatherneck, by CWO2 Bryan Nygaard, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
