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Suzanne Stack
Fredericksburg, Virginia
Sgt. Major Michael B. Stack, left, was killed during an ambush to his Humvee convoy on April 11, 2004. During the ambush, small-arms fire damaged two of his unit's machine guns. Stack's actions during the exchange, however, helped the rest of the team survive and he was awarded the Silver Star, the military's third-highest honor for heroism in combat. Born into a family who reportedly had a soldier in every American war since the American Revolution, “patriotism is part of their makeup,” says his wife, Suzanne. “He was born a soldier and had a very strong sense of duty. He felt he could serve his country best by serving in the military.”
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News
- The day before Sgt. Maj. Michael B. Stack left for Iraq, he talked to his brother, Cecil, about death.
The men, both career soldiers, knew risk well. Cecil had been stationed in Panama, Haiti and Grenada. Michael was a Green Beret, a member of the Army's elite Special Forces, and had served in the Persian Gulf War during his 28 years in the military.
But Cecil Stack, now a retired Army sergeant major living in Alexandria, saw Iraq "turning nasty" and knew that his brother, at 48, was within two years of retirement and had six children back home at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"I said, 'Mike, be careful, because this war takes sergeants major,' " Cecil Stack recalled. "It's a mobile job. You don't stay locked behind doors; you're not at a desk."
Michael Stack responded: "I need to go and do this. I need to take my unit over and bring my unit home."
On Easter Sunday, the war took Mike Stack. He was killed during an ambush by small arms fire while manning a .50-caliber machine gun on a Humvee patrol near Baghdad. Washington Post, 4/30/04
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