Honoring SSG Gene Vance
West Virginia National Guard
The West Virginia National Guard provides trained, equipped and ready forces.
Today we honor Staff Sgt. Gene "Buddy" Vance Jr., who, while critically wounded, saved the lives of two American and 18 Afghani soldiers on May 19th, 2002, sacrificing his own life in the process.
Vance was a mountain bike shop manager and co-owner and West Virginia University student in Morgantown, West Virginia, while serving in the West Virginia Army National Guard (WVARNG). He was a #98G (#cryptologic #linguist), and Persian-Farsi language-trained communicator in 2nd Bn, 19th Special Forces Group, Airborne when he was killed-in-action while on patrol during Operation MOUNTAIN LION near #Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Vance was the first National Guard member to be killed in direct action since Vietnam and the first WVNG member to die in battle since WWII.
Vance enlisted in the Army in 1983 and trained as a Communications Systems Circuit Controller. He joined the Army Reserve in 1992 as a Supply Specialist in the 646th Quartermaster Company, Kingwood, WV. In October 1992, Vance transferred to the #WVARNG's Company C, 2/19th SFG(A) at Camp Dawson in Kingwood, WV. In 2001, his unit was placed on active duty and deployed to Afghanistan.
Following the events of September 11, the 2/19th SFG(A) stood as the Army National Guard battalion with the highest level of readiness, prepared to mobilize. By December, 2/19th SFG(A) Soldiers were enroute to the Middle East and staged in Uzbekistan until moving forward into Afghanistan. United States Army Special Operations Command Special Forces leaders from the 2/19th SFG(A) in Kenova, West Virginia, were commanding and controlling Special Forces operations across Afghanistan.
It was during this time that the West Virginia National Guard suffered its first casualty of the #WaronTerror, when Vance was shot during an intense firefight.
The 2/19th SFG(A) was authorized to remain in place for a time frame not to exceed 735 days and they continued to carry out operations that would change the landscape of the initial war in Afghanistan. Operators from West Virginia would return to Afghanistan once again in 2009 and 2020 and still today remain ready to respond around the globe at a moment's notice.
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Gene Arden Vance Jr. was born on November 30, 1963, in Frankfurt, Germany, to Gene Arden Vance Sr. and June Carol Steele. Gene was the oldest of three children, followed by David and Jamie Vance.
Gene's family carried a long tradition of military service. His great uncles, William "Bittle" Steele and Clarence "Buck" England, served in World War II in the Army's 4th Infantry Division, U.S. Army , Bravo Company.
Gene's father, Gene Arden Vance Sr., was a captain in the USSOCOM as part of the #LRRP (Long-Range Reconnaissance Patrol) and became a major in the Army before retiring in the late 1970s.
Gene Jr. also had two uncles, William Edward Vance and James Ray Vance, who spent their careers in the military, as did his brother David, a non-commissioned officer with the 101st Airborne, who served two tours of duty in Iraq.
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Gene was heavily shaped and inspired by his family's military history and wanted to continue the legacy with his own life.
Alongside his time in the WVARNG, Gene worked to earn a college degree at West Virginia University and co-managed the Whitetail Bicycle and Fitness shop nearby.
Friends recalled Gene as quiet and unassuming, a tall and imposing man with a passion for outdoor fitness and rock bands like the Grateful Dead. He liked wearing Birkenstock sandals and Deadhead t-shirts, and loved to bike Morgantown trails with friends.
After a previous marriage left him with one daughter, Amber Vance, he met Lisa Selmon Vance, a local software engineer, when she designed a new website for the Whitetail shop. The two would marry in 2001, postponing their honeymoon when he received deployment orders.
After his death, Gene was awarded a bachelor of arts degree by WVU and was also posthumously promoted to staff sergeant.
Information gathered from the following:
RIP
RIP
US Army
1 年Rest in Peace Brother.
President: Sagitarii Security
1 年Having a beer for you, Buddy.