Ceremony honors Va. Guard Soldiers killed in action 10 years ago - Aug. 1, 2014

Current and former members of the Virginia National Guard's Winchester-based 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry Regiment, 116th Infantry Brigade Combat Team join friends and family members of Staff Sgt. Craig Cherry and Sgt. Bobby Beasley to commemorate their loss and honor their memory at a ceremony Aug. 1, 2014, in Winchester, Va. Both Soldiers were killed almost 10 years ago when an improvised explosive device destroyed their vehicle Aug. 7, 2004, during a patrol near Ghazikel in eastern Afghanistan. Brig. Gen. Blake Ortner and Lt. Col. Mark Nelson, commanders of 3rd Battalion and Headquarters Company when the Soldiers were killed, shared their memories of the Soldiers, and the ceremony concluded with a wreath laying followed by candlelight vigil.

Beasley and Cherry were infantrymen assigned to 3rd Battalion’s Headquarters Company.

Cherry, a native of Winchester, was 39 at the time of his death and was married with three children. He served in the U.S. Army from 1983-1987, then served in the Michigan National Guard from 1987-1998 before transferring to the Virginia Guard in late 1998.

Beasley, a native of Inwood, West Virginia, was 36 at the time of his death and married. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1980-1992 and, after spending one year in the Navy Reserve, he enlisted in the Virginia Guard in 1993.

The deaths of Beasley and Cherry marked the first combat deaths of a mobilized Virginia Guards Soldiers since the end of World War II in 1945. No Virginia Guard units served in theater during the Korean or Vietnam wars and while eight units served in Desert Storm from 1990 to 1991, no Soldiers were killed in combat. One Virginia Guard Soldier died during Desert Storm as a result of non-combat injuries suffered in a vehicle crash.

To honor the sacrifice and memory of these two Soldiers, their operating base in Afghanistan was renamed from “Camp Bulldog” to “Camp Cherry-Beasley.” In addition, two training villages located at Fort Pickett are named in their honor. A dedication ceremony was held in October 4, 2009, to name the readiness center in Winchester in their memory.