Soldiers honor a comrade
By Kevin Maurer
Staff writer
Sgt. Corey R. Mracek's lifelong dream was to jump with the 82nd Airborne Division. He would never get the chance.
Less than a month after Mracek arrived at Fort Bragg, he deployed to Iraq. He died Jan. 27, near Iskandariyah, Iraq, when he was stuck by an improvised explosive device. Mracek and other soldiers were headed back to their base camp after finishing their patrol when they spotted what looked like a trash bag on the side of the road.
Second Lt. Luke James, Staff Sgt. Lester Kinney and Mracek got out of their Humvees to investigate when the bag exploded. All three were killed. Mracek was 26.
About 55 paratroopers from his unit, Battery A, 3rd Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, jumped Tuesday in memory of Mracek. His name was on the jump manifest, giving him one official jump with the 82nd. ''He never got to jump with his airborne brothers. He will be with us today," said Spc. Jesse Runge, who served with Mracek in Iraq.
Mracek was a fire support specialist and forward observer assigned to the 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment. He deployed with paratroopers from the 82nd's 1st Brigade. The battery commander, Capt. Norberto Menendez, gave the eulogy at Mracek's funeral. In it, he promised to get him his sixth jump.
''We are just making good on a promise that we made in February," Menendez said.
Soldiers in paratrooper training complete five jumps in Airborne School before they are awarded their jump wings. The sixth jump is considered the first as a bona fide paratrooper. Mracek told friends that he looked forward to getting back and getting his first jump with division.
Town turns out
Mracek was a native of Hay Springs, Neb. Menendez said the almost the whole town attended the funeral. The townspeople lined the street in the snow when the procession drove by. ''If you didn't cry at that funeral, you don't have a soul," Menendez said.
Mracek was well-liked in the unit. He was remembered as a good soldier who always had a positive attitude.
Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Crocker said Mracek's nickname was Morale Check because he was always in a good mood, and the paratroopers had trouble pronouncing his name. Crocker was Mracek's platoon sergeant.
After arriving at the unit, Crocker said Mracek quickly prepared to deploy. His professionalism and hard work preparing impressed the paratroopers, including Afghan veterans who had already been in combat. ''I was more than OK going to war with the man," said Spc. James Blakley, a 20-year-old artilleryman from Texas.
Several of the paratroopers said it was an honor to take part in the jump Tuesday. Spc. Michael Butler and Mracek worked together as a team. Butler was on patrol with Mracek when he was killed.
''It is for one of our fallen paratroopers. I want to make the last jump for him," Butler said.
First Lt. Michael Tumlin, the battery's executive officer, jumped with Mracek's boots and beret in a backpack. After the jump, the battery gathered around a memorial, made up of Mracek's M-4 rifle, desert boots, helmet and beret, and took a photo for his family.
After the photo, Menendez signed Mracek's jump log, finally making him a paratrooper.