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SOUTHFIELD, Mich. – The drill hall was utterly silent. Two platoons of soldiers stood at attention as Spc. Bradley Foreman faced his company commander at the front of the formation. The call was made to publish the order, and, June 8, at the U.S. Army Reserve Center in Southfield, Mich., Foreman was promoted to sergeant while his wife, Michelle, and his fellow members of the 486th Engineer Company looked on.
As Foreman turned to face the company, Capt. Zachary Shea called for congratulations, and the room broke out in applause. After the ceremony, every member of the 486th Engineer Company who was present filed past Foreman to shake his hand, offer congratulations and best wishes or to give him a hug.
The promotion ceremony that the 486th Engineer Company held that day was just like any other promotion ceremony, except for one thing. Foreman came to the formation in a wheelchair and spent most of the afternoon in it. He stood and walked to the front of the formation to receive his sergeant stripes with the aid of a walking stick. He and his wife left soon after the ceremony. He is battling terminal cancer.
However, Foreman did not receive his promotion simply because of his illness. He earned it, said both the company’s first sergeant, 1st Sgt. Norman A. Black, and Shea, who is the company commander. Black said he is just glad they were able to expedite the process with the help of their higher command.
“Sgt. Forman is a leader,” said Black. “He is someone you can rely upon to do what needs to be done.”
Cpl. Christopher M. Lilienthal, a plumber and pipe fitter with the 486th Engineer Company who joined the unit just a few months after Foreman did and became good friends with him, agrees.
“He was always one of those guys who, when a detail would come up he’d always raise his hand and be like, 'oh, come on, you’re a sissy if you don’t,'” Lilienthal said. “So we’d always end up doing the same details.”
When Foreman was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011, he left a similar impression on those soldiers who he worked with there. Foreman was cross-leveled into the 322nd Engineer Company out of Decorah, Iowa.
“He was a true team player,” said Capt. Troy King, who was the commander of the 322nd Engineer Company at the time. “When we got the cross-levels in and we divided them up among the platoons, he quickly became a friend to everybody in the unit. It didn’t matter what rank or what their job was.”
Sgt.Michael T. Szerszen, an interior electrician with the 486th Engineer Company and Spc. Anthony D. Nelson, a carpenter and mason with the 486th Engineer Company, were both cross-leveled into the 322nd Engineer Company with Foreman.
“He was really good and respectful, did everything he was told and never really doubted or questioned why he had to do it,” Nelson said. “He was a great soldier, a great buddy.”
Szerzen agrees.
“He was always willing to give an extra hand even if he wasn’t scheduled to work that day,” Szerszen said. “If someone needed help, he would just go help them regardless.”
King, who spent a lot of a lot of time with Foreman because Foreman was the gunner for his vehicle when they went out on convoys, said Foreman was hardworking and professional.
“No matter what the job was, he’d take it on,” said King. “He never once complained.
Lilienthal, who calls Foreman one of his closest friends in the unit, said this time since Foreman has become ill, has been difficult.
“He’s a good friend, and it tears me up inside seeing him like this,” Lilienthal said.
However, ever since the 486th Engineer Company and 322nd Engineer Company have found out about Foreman’s illness, they have been doing all they can to help Foreman and his family.
“We intend to see this through because he’s family,” Black said. “So, as best we can assist, we will.”
Both Black and Shea note that there have been a lot of groups, both within the structure of the military and outside of it, that have offered Foreman their support. The 372nd Engineer Brigade Family Programs, the Veteran’s Administration, the Wounded Warrior Program, different organizations in Detroit, and the town of Decorah, Iowa, have all given aide and support to the Foreman family.
King notes a special fundraiser the 322nd Engineer Company put together just one weekend before Foreman’s promotion ceremony.
“After the change of command ceremony [King is no longer the 322nd Engineer Company commander], we had a banquet for him,” he said.
The company hosted a spaghetti dinner and silent auction and raised $7,400 that night for the Foremans, King said.
Black said this is a perfect example of an Army unit and a town taking care of soldiers as a family.
Although what the 486th Engineer Company, the 322nd Engineer Company, the town of Decorah and the city of Detroit have done for the Foremans is important and to be commended, Black said, he also tries not to lose sight of what is truly important: Foreman.
Foreman has demonstrated that he doesn’t quit, Black said. He is an example to all those around him of the warrior ethos. Even in his deteriorating condition he steps up, and he’s stepping into the rank of sergeant well.
Black said he is proud to have known Foreman and to have had him as a member of his team, and says he is looking forward to seeing what Foreman will do as a soldier. He only wishes he could see Foreman grow in his rank.
“He will be missed for what he brings to the team and our family,” Black said. “Not just as a soldier. He’s a quality individual.”
Lilienthal agrees with this view of his friend. The two of them have always worked well as a team and have had a lot of fun together and above all, he said, Foreman is a good and true friend.
“Foreman was always larger than life,” he said, “and one of the best soldiers I’ve ever served with.”
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 06.12.2012 16:15 |
| Story ID: | 89855 |
| Location: | SOUTHFIELD, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 714 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 486th soldier earns sergeant stripes while battling cancer, by SGT Kaitlin Feyma, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
