Contractor killed in Afghanistan ambush
Apr 28, 2009 Industry News, Memoriam
By Rachel Myers
“Too many times we stand aside, and let the waters slip away; ‘Til what we put off ’til tomorrow, has now become today; So don’t you sit upon the shoreline and say you’re satisfied; Choose to chance the rapids, and dare to dance the tide.”
- Garth Brooks, “The River”
Craig Fuller’s last moments were nowhere near the exquisite shoreline of his most-cherished song.
The 33-year-old Cape Coral man lived his last days in the dust-choked, rocky terrain of a land marred by decades of war.
He couldn’t tear himself away from it, though family and friends had pleaded with him.
His mission was to help, and the Marine Corps veteran would not abandon it.
On Saturday, Fuller’s team of security/construction contractors were ambushed in a roadside attack as they traveled from the Afghanistan-Pakistan border to the Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul.
Fuller’s family said the team was returning from delivering food supplies and fixing a leaky septic system in one of the area’s poorest border regions. After an hourlong firefight, Fuller was killed, along with his Afghan team leader, a native known only as Zia.
Fuller’s close friend, Jeff Hermey, also of Cape Coral, was injured by shrapnel. Hermey is returning home later this week.
A third Lee County resident, Lynn Terhune - office manager for Fuller’s company, Afghan Full Road Construction & Security Inc. - is remaining in Kabul. She was not present when the attack occurred.
An ambush
As Terhune, of Fort Myers, described in an e-mail Monday to her daughter, attacks along the perilous roadway are common.
The eight-member team was aware of the risks, and as part of a security team, they were heavily armed, which meant the militants couldn’t immediately overpower them.
“Miraculously only two died during this 1.5-hour attack,” Terhune wrote.
It’s unknown if any militants were killed.
Katherine Schweit, spokeswoman for the Washington field office of the FBI, confirmed her agency is working closely with officials in Kabul to investigate the attack.
“The FBI has the authority to investigate crimes against Americans overseas,” Schweit said.
If suspects are identified and arrested, it is possible they could be brought to the U.S. for trial. However, because the investigation is active, Schweit could not discuss what is believed to have happened on that dangerous road at dusk.
According to a story published Sunday by The Associated Press, there are 3,847 security contractors working in Afghanistan. That number is expected to expand as the number of troops there swell under the recent direction of President Barack Obama.
Fuller, after working for a string of private contractors during the past five years - including DynCorp International and Blackwater - decided to start his own security/construction firm. He returned to Afghanistan in January.
His family said he was quickly becoming exhausted, working tirelessly with his team to provide security to those who needed to deliver valuable supplies and construction help for those living in the crumbling, war-torn infrastructure.
But Fuller felt drawn by the great need.
“He impacted so many lives,” said his stepmother, Bert Fuller. “So many lives.”
Missing Craig
Jerry Fuller, 63, returned from Afghanistan on Thursday.
His son was growing weary, and he needed his rock. The two were not only father and son - they were absolute best friends. They even had shoulder surgery at the same time and went through therapy together.
“I told him, you’re taking this father-son thing a little too seriously,” Jerry Fuller joked.
Jerry Fuller stayed three months.
But in Afghanistan, the grainy dirt fragments that constantly blanket the air were too much for Jerry Fuller’s lungs.
“I couldn’t breathe there, couldn’t function,” he said. “I had to come home.”
He left, telling his son he was so proud, and urging him to return home soon.
Two days later, his son was killed.
On Monday, friends streamed through Jerry Fuller’s Cape Coral home, locking in long embraces.
Those who knew Craig Fuller say his name fit him perfectly.
“He lived his life ‘fuller’ than anyone else,” said friend Mike Hannon, 26, of Cape Coral.
Fuller’s early years were spent in New York, and he moved to Cape Coral with his brother, Ken, and sister, Cary Ann, when he was 8. His friends became too numerous to count.
“He would do anything to help anyone,” said friend Kyla Brouillette, 27. “He was like, ‘Oh, you need a place to stay, you’re welcome here.’ Or, ‘Oh, you need a car, use mine.’ Just anything for anybody.”
Last Christmas, he called home and arranged to send money anonymously to a local family.
At Jerry Fuller’s kitchen table Monday, sun spilled over photos of Craig, images that told the story of his exuberant life. Bert Fuller clasped her husband’s hands. He tightly shut his tear-filled eyes, and shook his head.
In happier times, Craig Fuller was an energetic student at Cape Middle School. He later graduated from Eustis High School in Lake County. From there, he joined the Marine Corps, and his work ethic drove him quickly through the ranks to staff sergeant, his family said.
“I realized my son was no longer my baby when I traveled to see him in Buenos Aires, and ambassadors were bowing to him,” Jerry Fuller said. “They thanked me for raising such a wonderful son. I was so proud of him.”
After he left the Marines, Craig Fuller came back to Lee County and founded “The Scrapyard,” a boxing enterprise. That’s where the 5-foot-11, 160-pound Fuller met 6-foot, 220-pound Jeff Hermey.
“Jeff thought it would be an easy fight,” Jerry Fuller said. “He underestimated Craig’s heart.”
It has long been disputed who actually won the fight, but the two were close ever since.
Craig Fuller had no shortage of friends, his father said.
Later this week, they will gather to honor him during a service at the Iwo Jima statue near the Veterans Memorial Bridge in Cape Coral. Later, his ashes will be scattered in the mountains of Tennessee. Fuller once told his father during a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains that it was “the closest to heaven I’ve ever been.”
And after he sacrificed everything surrounded by suffering, those who loved him don’t doubt that heaven is where Craig Fuller rests.
Tags: Afghanistan, Blackwater, contractors, DynCorp, fighting, fitness, Marines, Obama, services
Former SA soldier died in plane crash
Mar 12, 2009 Memoriam
The South African who died in the Uganda plane crash on Monday was a former soldier from Pretoria. Duncan Rykaart, 51, a former South African Defence Force Special Forces operative who later served in Iraq as a security operative, is believed to have been working as a security adviser to the African Union peacekeepers.
He was one of 11 people who died when an Illyushin-76 cargo plane crashed into Lake Victoria near Entebbe airport in Uganda on Monday. - Staff Reporter
Civilian contractor shot to death on duty in Iraq
Mar 9, 2009 Memoriam
RIVERVIEW, Mich. — A U.S. veteran who returned to Iraq as a civilian contractor was shot to death while protecting American diplomats in Iraq, his employer said yesterday.
Justin Pope, 25, died after being shot late Wednesday or early Thursday in Kirkuk, said Douglas Ebner, a spokesman for DynCorp International, which has its headquarters in Falls Church, Va.
WJBK, a Detroit-area television station, reported Saturday that Pope was killed by sniper fire. Ebner denied that, saying that Pope died of “an accidental gunshot wound.” He would not elaborate, saying that the incident was under investigation by DynCorp and the U.S. State Department.
Memoriam: Justin John Saint
Jan 29, 2009 Memoriam
By Tony Allen
Justin John Saint, Sainty, or JJ as he was aptly named; whichever name you knew him by; he was a truly amazing man in all facets of his personal and professional life.
He was the ultimate warrior, and yet a truly humble gentleman.
JJ served with in the Australian Regular Army from an early age and always led from the front as a true leader does. Justin was deployed to Rwanda in 1994 where he witnessed to the true horrors of the conflict and the true brutality of human beings. This was the grounding of JJ’s professional soldiering career, this hard and brutal proving ground made JJ strive to be the best soldier and leader he could be.
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Memoriam: Gregory R. Wright, Jr.
Dec 7, 2008 Jake's Posts, Memoriam
CIA Memorial Wall
7 DEC 2008
It’s hard for me to believe that 3 years has transpired since our friend and fellow operator Greg Wright was killled in Iraq. For those of us who knew him we were truly blessed for having had that opportunity.
I first met Greg in October of 1995 when we both reported to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Virginia. In those chaotic and frantic first few hours upon our arrival somehow we came to share a rack, he on the upper bunk and I on the lower. The assignment could not have possibly been more random. Nonetheless, that accidental assigment meant that every day would begin, transpire and end with he and I watching each other’s back. Our friendship and bond was immediate and would last our lifetimes.
Tags: Greg Wright, Jake's Posts, Memoriam
