News
Coast Guard Auxiliary Member Dies in Iraq
U. S. Coast Guard
April 26, 2005
YAQUINA BAY, Ore. - Services are pending for a young Army
private who has become the first known Coast Guard Auxiliarist
to be killed during the current military operations in Iraq.
Private First Class Kevin Scott Wessel, 20, of Newport, died
last Tuesday in Baghdad when a car bomb detonated near him
while he was on foot patrol, according to the U.S. Defense
Department. Spc. Jacob Pfister, 27, of Buffalo, N.Y., also
was killed by the improvised explosive device.
Wessel was a member of U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla
69 in Yaquina Bay.
Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski asked that flags be flown
at half-staff Monday (April 25) in honor of Wessel, whose
services are pending.
"It is sad to hear of the death of another soldier from
Oregon," Kulongoski said in a statement. "We are
seeing once again that war is taking a heavy toll on our nation's
service men and woman, as well as their families and friends."
Flotillla 69 members say Wessel moved from Hawaii to Oregon
after graduating from high school in 2003. He dreamed of becoming
a Coast Guard surfman at Station Yaquina Bay and decided to
join the flotilla in the meantime.
LeOra Johnson, who was flotilla commander at the time Wessel
expressed interest in joining, recalls he took the New Member
Examination just one day after he received the Auxiliary's
Resource Guide and voluminous Manual.
"He had read them cover to cover the night before. He
took the exam, passing it with a perfect score," says
Johnson.
Flotilla members say Wessel was a quick study, partly because
he had undergone extensive training with the Sea Cadets in
Hawaii.
Johnson says Wessel participated in area familiarization
missions and that "his physical condition and endurance
was extraordinary."
As reports from Iraq came in, flotilla members noted that
Wessel talked about wanting to go there and do his part.
"He said he tried to enlist in the Coast Guard, but
there was a two-year wait at that time before he would be
called up," Johnson recalls. "However, he wanted
to go now."
After speaking with an Army recruiter and being told the
Army would take him right away, Wessel enlisted.
After being deployed to Iraq, Wessel maintained contact via
e-mail with his Flotilla members back in Oregon.
"His messages were so descriptive, we could almost feel
as though we were there with him," says Johnson.
"When his e-mail messages suddenly stopped, we thought
and hoped perhaps he was on a mission where he didn't have
internet access. But, sadly, that was not the case."
Race Morningstar, a former Coast Guardsman and current Auxiliary
member from Alsea, says Wessel was "really gung-ho. He
was just willing to go out and do things."
Morningstar adds that Wessel "was a hell of a kid. He
would have turned into a hell of a man."
Johnson says that Wessel was "where he wanted to be,
doing what he wanted to do; he felt he could make a difference.
Wessel and Pfister, the other soldier killed in the attack,
were both assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment,
3rd Infantry Division based in Fort Stewart, Georgia.
The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is composed of uniformed,
non-military volunteer civilians who assist the Coast Guard
in all of its varied missions, except for military and direct
law enforcement. These men and women can be found on the nation's
waterways, in the air, in classrooms and on the dock, performing
Maritime Domain Awareness patrols, safety patrols, vessel
safety checks and public education
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