ABERDEEN TEST CENTER NAMES BUILDING FOR TASK FORCE SOLDIER KILLED IN IRAQ

A memorial plaque at the renamed building commemorates Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker.

By Mike Cast
DTC Public Affairs

Aberdeen Test Center (ATC) honored a Soldier killed in Iraq during the armored thrust into Baghdad by renaming one of its facilities after him. During the official renaming ceremony May 18, Building 269 of ATC’s Trench Warfare Complex became the Staff Sergeant Stevon A. Booker Memorial Building. Speakers at the event recalled the fallen Soldier’s heroism and concern for the men in his unit, Task Force 1-64 Armor.

The task force, comprising the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, conducted the first armored raid into Baghdad April 5, 2003. Staff Sgt. Booker’s M1A1 Abrams tank, a system thoroughly tested at ATC, destroyed numerous enemy vehicles and killed enemy troops as part of the lead element of Task Force 1-64. Booker was mortally wounded by enemy fire while engaging the enemy at close range with his M4 carbine from his tank commander’s hatch. He had popped up to fire at the enemy with his carbine after a 50-caliber machinegun in his tank failed to operate. Booker earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

“We didn’t just lose anybody; we lost Booker of the Desert Rogues – loud, proud and cocky,” recalled Maj. Andrew Hilmes of his fellow 1-64 Task Force Soldier in remarks at the ceremony. “We lost someone that we cannot replace. We’re all better off for knowing him and being graced with his presence in our lives.”

Hilmes described Booker as the type of noncommissioned officer who cared deeply about his troops and made sure they were all squared away, whatever the requirement.

Staff Sgt. Stevon Booker's family received a plaque from Aberdeen Test Center to take home.

“Staff Sgt. Booker called it as he saw it. He was ‘old school,’” Hilmes said. “He took it personally when he and his crew took on enemy fire. He was so offended that anyone would want to hurt his crew. Their final test, met to his exacting standards, was how flawlessly they performed in combat. As his spirit left his body, I know that he was proud of his crew.”

Col. John Rooney, ATC commander, also spoke of Booker at the renaming ceremony. He noted how Booker personified the Army values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. Booker’s death brings the work of DTC into stark relief for Army testers, according to Rooney.

“We can never afford to forget the reasons we do what we do,” he said, adding that Americans must never forget to say ‘thank you’ to the men and women serving America at war. Rooney described Booker as a hero and quoted Abraham Lincoln on the subject of heroism.

“Lincoln said any nation that does not honor its heroes will not long endure,” Rooney said.

Michael Asada, the deputy project manager for Heavy Brigade Combat Team, called Booker a legend and said he was someone the troops could look to for calm in heat of battle. “Booker was a leader and somebody who took care of his troops,” Asada said. “When the men were afraid of the unknown, he reminded his crew that they were riding in an M-1 tank, and it was the enemy who should be scared.”

Tanks could fight in urban environments, thanks to men such as Booker, Asada said. Among the speakers at the ceremony was the Reverend Craig Giles, pastor at Triumph Baptist Church in Sewickley, Pa. He characterized Booker as a great family man and model Soldier. Booker left behind “a great legacy,” Giles said.

---

Distribution Statement A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited.