Staff Sergeant Eric Steffeney (184th Ordnance Battalion, 52nd Ordnance Group) was the kind of soldier who packed a lot of punch into his eleven-year career with the Army. He enlisted at the age of 17, and by the time of his death on February 23, 2005, he had disarmed more than 50,000 pieces of unexploded ordnance, 90 missiles, and several improvised explosive devices.

Almost 600 family and friends gathered for his memorial and remembered Eric as the kind of guy who also cared deeply for his fellow man. “He was so concerned about his men,” said his father Gary Steffeney. “He had one soldier who got hurt awhile back and he would still call to check on him periodically.” Although he enlisted in the Army as a parachutist, he quickly found his calling in the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit which finds, disarms and detonates unexploded munitions. Major General Evan Hultman who spoke at his memorial said, “Eric put his life on the line for his fellow citizens. What then does Eric ask of us? To volunteer and seize the opportunities that we hold.”