Go Back   Professional Soldiers ® > And Some Gave All.... > TAPS

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 10-09-2011, 10:55   #1
Richard
Quiet Professional
 
Richard's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
SFC Earl R. Fillmore

Earl was an 18D with A-1/7th prior to his selection and assignmnet to 1st SFOD-D.

RIP, warrior. DOL.

Richard


New Cumberland Army Depot Medical Clinic Named To Honor Soldier Killed In Combat
PennLive, 4 Oct 2011

Most special forces soldiers look grim in their official photographs, but not Sgt. First Class Earl Fillmore.

The Pennsylvania native who died in the battle of Mogadishu, Somalia, in 1993 wore a jaunty smile, a sign of the quirky wit he displayed throughout his life, friends said.

Fillmore was honored Monday during a ceremony at the New Cumberland Defense Distribution Center when a medical clinic was named in his memory.

Lt. Col. Robert Mabry, who spoke Monday, told of the time Fillmore mounted a pair of warthog tusks onto his helmet and paraded around the compound in Somalia half naked.

But when it came to his job, there was no more professional soldier than Fillmore, Mabry said.

“He was a fearless and tenacious combat medic,” said Mabry, who served in Somalia with Fillmore. “He kept his medic skills intact so he could not only fight his way out of a tight spot, but he could take care of his injured comrades.”

During the battle of Mogadishu, the fight made famous in the movie “Black Hawk Down,” Fillmore fought through the streets to reach the crash site of a downed helicopter in an attempt to rescue his comrades. He was fatally wounded defending his force.

Big Spring High School graduate Randall Shughart was killed in the battle. Shughart and Master Sgt. Gary Gordon were posthumously awarded Medals of Honor in 1994 for their actions in the battle.

According to the ceremony’s program notes, “as a direct result of his superior marksmanship and demonstrated bravery, many members of the assault force were spared injury or possible death.”

Fillmore was awarded the Silver Star for valor posthumously.

His sister, Brenda Perry, said she met a soldier who fought with him who told her, “it was because of your brother we were able to come home.”

Fillmore was born in Latrobe near Pittsburgh, the youngest of seven children and the only boy. His mother, his six sisters and several nieces and nephews attended Monday’s ceremony.

Perry said the brother she knew as “Poocher,” “Little Earl,” “The Boy,” or “Sparky” was always a dreamer, an achiever and a risk taker.

As a child, he would relate stories about his adventures in the Army “when he used to be big,” she said.

He joined the Army at 17, right after high school, getting his training as a medic. When he was 24, he became the youngest soldier ever to be accepted into the Army’s elite Delta Force, where he became a counter-terrorist.

Fillmore fought in Panama, Iraq and elsewhere before he was assigned to Somalia. Perry said he was involved in secret operations his family did not even know about. He loved his 10 years in the military, she said.

Capt. Donald Varos, retired, a physician’s assistant at the facility now known as the SFC Earl Fillmore Army Health Clinic, said he met Fillmore during their early medic training. Varos pushed for the clinic's name, which took a couple of years to accomplish.

“I feel Earl exemplified America’s best,” he said. “The green beret, the Delta Force. He was a true warrior. He could be a clown, but when it came to combat, he was a dedicated professional. He was just a really good guy.”

The medical clinic at the army depot serves more than 2,000 active duty soldiers, their families and retirees, as well as about 4,000 civilian workers.

Mabry said Fillmore helped inspire him to continue his studies, get his medical degree and remain in the Army, where he is now chief physician of the U.S. Army Emergency Medicine Fellowship Program.

Mabry said special forces medics need to be highly trained in medicine because they often serve in remote areas during guerrilla warfare and might not reach safety for days on end. According to Varos, “we’re trained to be in the middle of nowhere without a lot.”

Fillmore then also trained in marksmanship, patrolling, parachuting and the other disciplines of the elite forces.

Brig Gen. Joseph Caravalho, commanding general of the Northern Regional Medical Command, said during the ceremony, “I am in utter awe of all this man could accomplish in his life.”

Perry said her brother never bragged about his accomplishments. She said he was dedicated, witty, educated, fun, considerate and humble.

“If he were looking down from heaven now, he would wonder, ‘What’s all the fuss?” she said. “It’s about you, Earl. It’s all about you.”


http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...edical_cl.html
Attached Images
File Type: jpg SFC ER Fillmore.jpg (6.3 KB, 588 views)
File Type: jpg SFC Earl R Fillmore.jpg (8.2 KB, 567 views)
__________________
“Sometimes the Bible in the hand of one man is worse than a whisky bottle in the hand of (another)… There are just some kind of men who – who’re so busy worrying about the next world they’ve never learned to live in this one, and you can look down the street and see the results.” - To Kill A Mockingbird (Atticus Finch)

“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” - Robert Heinlein
Richard is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 11:17   #2
JJ_BPK
Quiet Professional
 
JJ_BPK's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 18 yrs upstate NY, 30 yrs South Florida, 20 yrs Conch Republic, now chasing G-Kids in NOVA & UK
Posts: 11,901
RIP Warrior, Vaya con Dios..
__________________
Go raibh tú leathuair ar Neamh sula mbeadh a fhios ag an diabhal go bhfuil tú marbh

"May you be a half hour in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead"
JJ_BPK is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 11:37   #3
Dusty
RIP Quiet Professional
 
Dusty's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: The Ozarks
Posts: 10,072
Prayers out
__________________
"There you go, again." Ronald Reagan
Dusty is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 12:15   #4
ZonieDiver
Quiet Professional
 
ZonieDiver's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Georgetown, SC
Posts: 4,204
Rest In Peace, Brother.
__________________
"I took a different route from most and came into Special Forces..." - Col. Nick Rowe
ZonieDiver is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 15:41   #5
greenberetTFS
Quiet Professional (RIP)
 
greenberetTFS's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: Carriere,Ms.
Posts: 6,922
Gone,but not forgotten.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wn_iz...eature=related

God Bless,Rest in Peace Warrior.....

He was just a simple soldier and his ranks are growing thin
But his presence should remind us; we may need his like again,
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.......

Perhaps just a simple headline in the paper that might say:
OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, FOR A SOLDIER DIED TODAY. (author unknown)

The passing of our soldiers often go unnoticed and unsung by most of the world, remembered only by family and friends. Wish it were not so. May he RIP, his family will be in my thoughts and prayers.........

I realize it's a Canadian song,however I believe most appropriate for this occasion...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrkgV5bl7kQ

Big Teddy
__________________
I believe that SF is a 'calling' - not too different from the calling missionaries I know received. I knew instantly that it was for me, and that I would do all I could to achieve it. Most others I know in SF experienced something similar. If, as you say, you HAVE searched and read, and you do not KNOW if this is the path for you --- it is not....
Zonie Diver

SF is a calling and it requires commitment and dedication that the uninitiated will never understand......
Jack Moroney

SFA M-2527, Chapter XXXVII

Last edited by greenberetTFS; 01-17-2012 at 16:37.
greenberetTFS is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 16:18   #6
deepheart
SF Candidate
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Raeford, NC
Posts: 18
I remember reading about SFC Fillmore when reading BHD. He was portrayed the way all Soldiers should desire to be portrayed..... a quiet and dedicated professional.

RIP SFC Fillmore.
deepheart is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 18:51   #7
Red Flag 1
Area Commander
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 2,952
Rest In God's Peace Warrior.
Red Flag 1 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 20:01   #8
TrapLine
Guerrilla
 
TrapLine's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: MN's Iron Range
Posts: 450
Rest in peace, SFC Fillmore.
__________________
It is what you learn after you know it all that counts.
TrapLine is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-09-2011, 21:01   #9
SF_BHT
Quiet Professional
 
SF_BHT's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Sneaking back and forth across the Border
Posts: 6,627
Rest in Peace Brother you are always in our thoughts.
SF_BHT is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-10-2011, 17:12   #10
Joker
Quiet Professional
 
Joker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,576
Earl was my roommate before I went to Panama. Our paths crossed several times and the last time was pre-Just Cause where we worked with each other one last time. He always had that smile on his face and was a straight shooter (both with and without a gun!). His death and the others that day hit me hard.
Rest in Peace my friend, you are missed.
DOL
Joker
Joker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2011, 08:48   #11
jasonglh
Guerrilla
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Kentucky
Posts: 332
Mr Varos did a great job pulling all that together. Several members of their 18D class flew in as well as one of the retired 18D instructors. I have some pics of the plaque inside the clinic.
__________________
Victory is the only end that justifies the sacrifice of men at war.

Col. Robert W. Black
jasonglh is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-17-2012, 15:45   #12
Rogue
Guerrilla Chief
 
Rogue's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Ohio
Posts: 590
Rest in Peace
__________________
LOYALTY - HONOR - INTEGRITY
Understand the problem; pull your weight. Appreciate. Be completely honest and trustworthy in all things. - Jeff Cooper

Practice honesty and integrity; rescue the man who has been wronged from the hands of his oppressor; do not exploit the stranger, the orphan, the widow; do no violence; shed no innocent blood in this place. Jer 22:3

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ~ Edmund Burke
Rogue is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2012, 19:26   #13
Joker
Quiet Professional
 
Joker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,576
Thinking of you Brother.
Joker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2014, 19:56   #14
Joker
Quiet Professional
 
Joker's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Tampa
Posts: 2,576
21 years. None are forgotten.
Joker is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-03-2014, 21:30   #15
PRB
Quiet Professional
 
PRB's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Arizona
Posts: 5,221
Quote:
Originally Posted by Joker View Post
21 years. None are forgotten.
He'll never be as long as you live Joker...hard to believe it's been that long.
No matter the time, or who remembers...he did his duty.
PRB is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:31.



Copyright 2004-2022 by Professional Soldiers ®
Site Designed, Maintained, & Hosted by Hilliker Technologies