Blain M Ebert - Iraq War Heroes, Fallen Heroes Memorial, Afghanistan War Heroes - OurWarHeroes.org

Blain M Ebert

Washtucna, Washington

November 22, 2004

Age

Military

Rank

Unit/Location

Army

Spc

4th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1^st Cavalry Division

Fort Hood, Texas

Died in Baghdad, Iraq, when enemy forces engaged his unit with small arms fire.

For Some Memorial Service Snapshots, click photo below

November 27, 2004

Blain Matthew Ebert
Obituary
Washtucna, Wash.
Danekas Funeral Home
Ebert, Blain Matthew, Army Specialist, age 22, died November 22, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq, when enemy forces engaged his unit with small arms fire.
Specialist Ebert was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Blain Matthew Ebert was born March 30, 1982, in Colfax, WA. He was raised in Washtucna and graduated from Washtucna High School in 2001.
Blain was a member of the FFA, Boy Scouts of America and Washtucna Youth Group. He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing, and snowmobiling.
He joined the United States Army at the age of 18.
He graduated from basic training at Fort Sill, OK, in September of 2001, transferring to Fort Hood Texas shortly after. Blain married Shilanta Harris May 30 2003.
Blain was dedicated to serving his country through military service. He re-enlisted for an additional five years in October of 2004.
He is survived by his wife, Shilanta Ebert; mother, Lucy Ebert of Auburn, WA; father, Michael Ebert and wife, Karen of Washtucna; brother, Tim Ebert and wife Melissa of Atlanta, Georgia; sisters, Melissa Ebert of Moses Lake, Jennifer Camp and husband, Justin of Ephrata and Elizabeth Ebert of Moses Lake.
A celebration of Blain's life will be held on Saturday, November 27, 2004, at 1 p.m. at the Washtucna High School Gymnasium.
The family suggest memorial contributions be made to the Specialist Blain Ebert Memorial Fund C/O Bank of Whitman, P.O. Box 623, Washtucna, WA 99371.
Danekas Funeral Home, Ritzville, WA, is in charge of funeral arrangements.
Published in Tri-City Herald on Nov. 25, 2004

From Miranda 07/05/05:

Chris was my first love, my first real boyfriend. Even through we were not still together no one could ever have taken his place, he was one of a kind. He had a wonderful personality I loved being around him, he always made me smile even when I tried not too. He will be missed greatly. I am so thankful for the time I had with him. He is truly my HERO.

WASHTUCNA, Wash. — Weeks after arriving in Iraq in March, Spc. Blain Matthew Ebert asked people in his hometown to send clothes and shoes for Iraqi children.

Residents of this dusty hamlet about halfway between the Tri-Cities and Spokane responded with box after box of clothing, candy and other goods.

On Monday, Ebert, 22, a tank commander in the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, based in Fort Hood, Texas, was killed at a roadblock near Baghdad.

“He spent every moment over there worrying about those people,” his father, Michael Ebert, said Tuesday. “In his eyes, love and the future of Iraq were going to come through the Iraqi children.”

Ebert popped his head out of his tank’s command hatch and “a sniper got him,” his father said. “It was instant death with one shot. I’m grateful he didn’t suffer.”

Born and reared on the family’s wheat farm, Ebert loved farming, deer hunting, snowmobiling and football, but enlisted before he graduated in 2001 from the local high school.

He married the cousin of a friend’s wife in May 2003 and signed up last month for another five years of Army service.

Ebert was injured last month when a car bomb exploded near his tank but, after a couple of weeks of desk work while nursing a bruised eardrum and sore back, asked “to be sent back out there” on combat duty, his father said.

By Tuesday, well-wishers from Washtucna, Ritzville, Lind and La Crosse had erected a large makeshift memorial in a municipal park that Ebert’s older brother established years ago as an Eagle Scout project, the father said.

Two boys lined Main Street with the town’s American flags, usually reserved for Fourth of July celebrations, he added.

“That’s just the way small communities are,” he said. “One hurts, everybody hurts.”

From The Seattle Times
Shortly after arriving in Iraq with his unit, Army Spc. Blain M. Ebert asked people in his hometown to send clothes and shoes for Iraqi children. Residents responded with box after box of that and more. "He spent every moment over there worrying about those people," said his father, Michael Ebert. "In his eyes, love and the future of Iraq were going to come through the Iraqi children." Ebert, 22, of Washtucna, Adams County, was killed by sniper fire Nov. 22, 2004, in Baghdad. He was stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. Raised on his family's wheat farm, Ebert loved farming, deer hunting, snowmobiling and football. He joined the Army before graduating from high school and was married two years later to his wife, Shalanta. He was injured a month before his death when a car bomb exploded near his tank. But after a couple weeks of desk work nursing a bruised eardrum and sore back, he asked to be returned to combat, his father said.

From KWTX kwtx.com 11/27/04:
Memorial Service Saturday For Slain Fort Hood Soldier
A community memorial service is scheduled Saturday at the high
school gymnasium in Washtucna, Wash., the hometown of Fort Hood Spc. Blain M. Ebert, 22, who died Monday in Baghdad when enemy forces engaged his unit with small arms fire.

Ebert’s father, Michael Ebert, said the 1st Cavalry Division air defense artilleryman was shot and killed by a sniper when he stuck his head out of the hatch of a Bradley fighting vehicle.

Just weeks after he arrived in Iraq in March, Ebert asked residents of his hometown to send clothing and shoes for Iraqi children.

Residents responded with box after box of clothes, candy and other goods.

Ebert was assigned to the 4th Battalion, 5th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood.