'ANYTHING OTHER THAN WAR'

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Mar 24, 2006 by TOM ROEDER THE GAZETTE

Four soldiers whose sacrifice was remembered Thursday at Fort Carson kept themselves busy and maintained their sense of humor during their time in northwestern Iraq.

It's not that Spc. Thomas J. Wilwerth, Sgt. Dimitri Muscat, Sgt. Gordon F. Misner II and Staff Sgt. Curtis T. Howard II weren't patriots. They just understood how to cope with the rigors of war, friends and comrades said.

"They liked to talk about anything other than war when they weren't outside the wire," said Spc. Scott Dickson, who knew the men.

The four members of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team were remembered during an hour-long service before a crowd of soldiers and family members at a chapel on the post.

Howard, killed along with Wilwerth and Misner in a Feb. 22 bombing outside Samarra, could relax even in the toughest times.

On his first trip to Iraq in 2003, Capt. Matthew Staton caught Howard in the act at an unexpected time.

"Here's this guy in the back of a Bradley watching movies," Staton said, recalling Howard and others huddled around a laptop computer with a DVD player during a break in an operation. "We're in the middle of a war, and they're having Friday night."

Howard was a tough, caring leader who could be counted on in a firefight. But he didn't wallow in the difficulties and dangers.

"Sgt. Howard liked to cut up, and he liked to have his fun," Staton said, declining to detail the antics. "Those memories are just for me."

Wilwerth was a quiet soldier who kept his mind off his troubles by immersing himself in work, Spc. Scott Dickson recalled.

"I always saw him running around doing something," Dickson said of the New Yorker. "That something was always work."

Dickson said the 21-year-old was ambitious and gained a reputation among his commanders for his strong work ethic. But he wasn't boastful.

"He wasn't so loud at all; his nose was always to the grindstone," Dickson said.

Dimitri Muscat, a Russian immigrant who died Feb. 24 in an incident unrelated to combat that the Army hasn't explained, only seemed to worry about sharpening his otherworldly accuracy with the 120 mm cannon of his M-1 tank.

Capt. William Donaldson said Muscat had unparalleled skills at destroying targets with the mammoth gun.

"He just loved putting steel on targets downrange," Donald said.

When he got frustrated with a miss, Muscat's Russian roots would become evident.

"When you get upset, your native language comes through," the captain explained.

But even the misses didn't get Muscat down.

"He was giving back what this country had given to him," Donaldson said.

Misner just seemed to smile his way through it all.

"Nobody could say he thought much about death," Dickson said of the soldier who was known for cheering others up.

Misner's wife, Christina, said he couldn't stand to see others depressed. He would go to great lengths, she said after the service. "He would just do the darnedest things."

But he isn't there to help his wife and his three daughters through the saddest time they've faced. The oldest of the the children, 4-year-old Natashia, is feeling the grief full-force.

"She asks why we can't drive to heaven to see him," Christina Misner said, with a dry-eyed, distant look. "And why she can't be buried with Daddy."

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com

SOLDIERS REMEMBERED

Four soldiers were remembered Thursday at a Fort Carson memorial service. The quotes come from comrades and commanders.

Staff Sgt. Curtis T. Howard II, 32, of Ann Arbor, Mich., died Feb. 22 outside Samarra when a roadside bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

He is survived by his children, Dominic, Christion and Velencia.

"I knew he was a noncommissioned officer I could count on. He had my back."

Sgt. Gordon F. Misner II, 23, of Sparks, Nev., died Feb. 22 outside Samarra when a roadside bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

He is survived by his wife, Christina, and daughters, Haley, Marisa and Natashia.

"He was never boastful. Not that he needed to be; his actions spoke volumes."

Spc. Thomas J. Wilwerth, 21, of Mastic, N.Y., died Feb. 22 outside Samarra when a roadside bomb exploded near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.

He is survived by his parents, Thiery and Elaine Wilwerth.

"He was the one to watch, a faster."

Sgt. Dimitri Muscat, 21, of Aurora died in Balad, Iraq, on Feb. 24 of injuries unrelated to combat.

He is survived by his parents, Ksenia and Hugh Muscat, and his sister, Katya.

"Sgt. Muscat was a compassionate man with a distinct smile."