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Taps, Present Arms
William
H. Brushwood
Command
Sergeant Major (Retired) William H. Brushwood died October 12, 2008,
in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
CSM
Brushwood enlisted 1951 with the 11th Airborne Division, Fort
Campbell, Kentucky, and then served in the following units: 89th AFA
Battalion as an airborne artilleryman; 508th ARCT as an infantryman;
Pathfinder Platoon as a pathfinder; and 188th AIR as an infantryman.
He was an instructor in the division Jump School from 1954 to 1955.
He gyroscoped to Germany with the division in 1956 and then deployed
with the 1st ABO, 187th Infantry Regiment to Lebanon during the 1958
crisis. In 1959 he gyroscoped back to the 82nd Airborne Division at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Brushwood
was the 3rd Army Rifle and Pistol Match individual rifle champion in
1960. He was assigned to USAMU in 1962 as a Service Rifle Shooter and
Instructor and was a shooting member of the 1962 winning Infantry
Trophy Team at the National Matches. He also earned the U. S.
Army Distinguished Rifleman Badge in 1962.
In
1966, Brushwood was reassigned to Special Forces and served three
years at various camps in II Corps, RVN. Assignments included the 5th
SFGA as Intelligence and Operations Sergeant and the 46th SFCA in
Thailand as Operations Sergeant. He returned to 5th SFGA, Fort Bragg,
North Carolina, in 1973 and served as Operations Sergeant and Command
Sergeant Major. He retired in 1981 with 30 years of airborne service.
His
awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, two
Army Commendation medals, nine Good Conduct medals, National Defense
Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal with 9 campaign stars,
Vietnamese Gallantry Cross with palm, Combat
Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, U.S. Army
Distinguished Rifleman Badge, Master Thai, Vietnamese, and Iranian
Parachutist badges, Pathfinder Badge, Special Forces Tab and Ranger Tab. |