Professional Soldiers ® - TAPs for Steven Gernet (10th SFG)

I was just out in colorado for a ODA 055 reunion of sorts
did some ski-ing and drinking or the other way around.
Got to see a bunch of friends.
As Our minds eye was brought back to steve when we were together, i want to take this oportunity to revisit. I didn't post here then on this thread so i will do so now... thanks for the indulgence.
We will never forget!
These are the words i spoke at his service

For those of you who don’t know me , I’m Rick Turcotte MSG ( Special Forces retired).
I was Steve’s team seargeant on ODA 055 B Co 2nd BN 10th SFGA.

I would like to say a few words in memory of my Team mate and friend.

When I met Steve he was already an accomplished veteran,,, Airborne, Ranger, Ranger Instructor, Combat diver and Special Forces qualified. He was already Elite in the ranks of a few.

Its tough to be a new guy in special forces, joining your first A- Team with so much to prove. But Steve brought something with him which provided him with one hurdle already crossed.

You see the coveted Ranger tab evokes like a shining beacon on a man’s shoulder (RESPECT)

He was also a Ranger instructor or RI , for those of us in Special forces who never served in the ranger battalion , we only knew the RI as the mystical creatures who walked in the forest , mountains , desert or swamps carrying a stick watching- grading and generally making our life even more miserable than it already was for 64 days of hell.

If that weren’t enough he also already wore the Combat divers’s badge , the elite badge of accomplishment for all Green Berets. As luck would have it that badge was his ticket to join us on ODA 055 the SCUBA team.

I believe in all people’s life there is a defining time or period of time where everything before is blurry and everything after is forever changed and never again the same.

I believe Steve’s descision to become a Green Beret and the fate that brought him into my life and the other men’s life on ODA 055 ,,, was that defining period for him and us.

The learning process of becoming a Green Beret operator is tough for the ordinary man. Steve was not ordinary he was like a baby on Steroids. He wasn’t young nor weak and already had a strong foundation.
He wanted it Full Speed and he could take it!

You might ask how I can stand up here and try to tell you about Steve’s life , when I only knew him for 8 years and served with him for only 3.

He called me Boss , I called him Steve or Tard to his face and called him Stud behind his back

I can guarantee you over those three years we served together we spent more time together than apart. Ya that does include sleeping

We slept huddled together in a snow cave above the artic circle. The guys called it the smoking cave, we were probably the only two guys in the world who could enjoy smoking in a sealed snow cave.
We spent days and nights trying to pretend it wasn’t cold in a snow trench together above 10 thousand feet in the flattops after a brutal hike up dead horse gulch.

Steve was the best Field MOM – as he was always up first with a fire going and coffee water boiling. He would be standing there looking at us like we slept in as we crawled out of our holes a 5:30 in the morning. Kelly is still mad about Steve burning up his antique pot – You gotta put water in it TARD.

Steve knew me so well he would carry extra cigarettes to the field in case I ran out – got grumpy and wanted to make the team do something stupid.

We were tied together under water in the pitch black with nobody to rely on but each other to many times to count. We dove some ancient leaky Russian rigs just cause it would be cool.
We followed each other out of planes over land and water. We even rode each other out of a jet from 14, 000 ft freefalling down and refusing to let go till one of us got scared ---- ya steve now I admit it I was scared./

We would get drunk and passionately argue our strong military and political views into the wee hours of the morning.

We laughed until we cried after we had made fools of ourselves screaming like little girls chasing an enemy bat out of our room in Lithuania. We swore that Bat was Russian as we wouldn’t have been scared of just any old bat. To this day I’ll never forget Steve nearly stabbing Mike kiefer and others with the team guideon trying to kill that stupid bat.

Don’t worry the big bad green berets couldn’t kill that bat-- it flew harmlessly out the window leaving us telling war stories like we had just conquered IWO JIMA.

We lived in the same house for 4 months in Kosovo , and watched 9/11 unfold from there wondering what was happening to our country while we worked to save somebody elses.

After all that I would often find him curled up on my couch or on the floor at my home after a party. A party we had to have after we got home because it should be obvious to anybody we hadn’t spent enough time together.

You see ODA 055 was a family more than a team.
Steve loved us and we loved him.

It’s no secret to anybody how Steve felt about me because he would tell anybody who would listen. He loved to tell stories about our exploits , and sometimes ( ah well ) mostly to my embarrassment.

What he probably didn’t know was how I felt about him. Kelly and I would sit around the team room after the guys had gone home and talk about the dream team. What if we could pick the ultimate mission and hand pick the team we wanted to take on it with us. What I never told Steve was that he was always the number one pick on my dream team.

We all have our thoughts and beliefs about what will happen to our spirit after life. I believe there is a place that great warriors go after life here on earth. Valhalla the place of the Spartans or Vikings lore.

I believe Steve’s sprit will take his place among the just warriors standing ready to wage battle for those oppressed in the confrontation against evil forever.

Some believe his spirit will be back here on earth, if so upon his return from Summerland I wish for a patriotic form (the bald eagle) so he can enjoy a lifetime of souring freedom that he loved so much.
Plus then he wouldn’t have to worry about his hair!

Steve knew the serious nature of the business he was in, he never cut anyone any slack. He would say if you want some slack cut the rope:

He also understood that this was his time. He didn’t waste life waiting for something better to come. He lived life and had fun doing it. My time with Steve provided me with an entire lifetime of memories. We worked hard, challenged each other daily, sucked it up together, and played hard when it was over.

I guarantee you this on Steve’s last mission he was having fun--------
He was hanging out of a little bird behind a machine gun under fire in a war zone with virtually no protection. His mission to save others in contact on the ground. For most that would not be fun. But for Steve (well)

Let me tell you these facts – Steve loved to fly, He loved guns, and he believed in what he was doing for this country. He was a Patriot. But most of all he cared about those men on the ground.

If he had survived that mission he would have come back drank some tequila and told anybody who asked that it was just another day at the office. If you pressed him on it he would have said it was the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Then he would have saddled up the next day and done it again.

For an extraordinary man who led and extraordinary life I’m going to say goodbye the only way I know how with some words from
Julius Ceasar.

If a man should know the ends of this days business ,, There it come !

Let it suffice the day will end and the end be known.

My friend if we should meet again then we will smile -----

If not then this parting was well made.

Cowards die many times before their deaths;

The valiant never taste of death but once.

Of all the wonders that I yet have heard

Its seems most strange to me that man should fear;

Seeing that death, a necessary end,

Will come when it will come.

Godspeed Green Beret

De Oppresso Liber