The Soldiers of the 710th Ordnance Company (EOD) 2002-2007

Merriam Press Military Monograph Series. First Edition 2013. Shortly after 9/11, in November 2001, the seventeen members of the 710th left San Diego for Afghanistan to help in the search of the perpetrators of the worst terrorist attack on American soil. They answered the call during one of the most frightening times in our nation's history. Three would not come home again. The members of the 710th were some of the first boots on the ground in Afghanistan during the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom. Tragically, on April 15, 2002, the 710th lost three of their soldiers in an explosion of a booby-trapped weapons cache while supporting the 19th Special Forces group north of Kandahar. Killed in Action: SFC Daniel A. Romero, SSG Justin J. Galewski, SSG Brian T. Craig, and SGT Jamie O. Maugans. Only one soldier, SSG Jeffrey Pugmire, escaped death. The names of the three fallen Soldiers of the 710th were added to the EOD Memorial Wall at Eglin AFB in May 2003. The members of the 710th Ord Co (EOD) made history once again by their service and presence in Iraq on December 15, 2005 during that nation's first democratic elections. Other past deployments include operations in Bosnia and Kuwait as well. The former CO Major Keith Nelson, and SSG Jeff Pugmire (Ret) have worked at the Joint IED Task Force in Washington, DC. This interservice task force is developing new methods to defeat IEDs and their threat to our troops overseas. A Monument honoring the four killed in Afghanistan as well as Fort Rosecrans Soldiers, past and present, now stands at 1895 Tattnal Way. Open to the public, the Memorial is located along Harbor Drive in San Diego, within Lincoln Military Housing at Liberty Station. It was dedicated in April 2007 on the Fifth Year Anniversary weekend of the loss of the men from the 710th Ord Co (EOD) in Afghanistan. 103 B&W and color photos and documents.