From Luzon to Yarborough: Airborne Jump and Memorial Ruck Honor Fallen 3rd Group Soldiers
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — In the grey chill just before sunrise Thursday, the steady hum of C-27 C-27J Spartan high-performance aircraft broke the morning quiet over Luzon Drop Zone. Within minutes, dozens of round canopies blossomed against the Carolina sky, opening a two-day sequence of commemoration that spanned the sky and the trail to remember four fallen service members.
Thursday morning’s airborne operation brought together Paratroopers from 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), the 82nd Airborne Division and the 192nd Ordnance Battalion to honor four service members killed in action near Tongo Tongo, Niger, on Oct. 4, 2017.
Honored during the remembrance were Staff Sgt. Bryan C. Black, Staff Sgt. Dustin M. Wright, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah W. Johnson and Sgt. LaDavid T. Johnson, all assigned to 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne).
"Preserving the legacy of our guys is one of our most important tasks as not only Green Berets, but soldiers," said a U.S. Green Beret who served on Operational Detachment Alpha 3212 alongside the fallen teammates. "The fallen have to be remembered, and we have to know what they did and why they did it. Continuing to be here year after year is really one of the things that I treasure most about my career."
He emphasized that honoring them means recognizing their lives beyond uniform and rank.
"It’s who they were as people," the Green Beret said. "We are soldiers, but also we are fathers, we are sons, we are brothers. And those things are as important, if not more important, than what we currently do."
The commemoration shifted from the air to the ground Friday morning, Oct. 2, as Soldiers and Gold Star family members reconvened at Johnson Hall, the facility dedicated in memory of Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Johnson, for the remembrance ruck march. Stepping off at first light alongside Debbie Gannon, mother of Sgt. 1st Class Johnson, the formation navigated a multi-mile route traversing the Lt. Gen. William P. Yarborough Complex, moving side by side with the Gold Star family, military veterans, and service members from across the installation.
For the participants, the multi-day event served as an exercise in both collective operational readiness and institutional memory. While rigorous tactical training remains an everyday demand across the special operations community, organizers coordinated the jump and ruck march to honor the ultimate sacrifice made by the fallen service members while reaffirming an enduring commitment to the profound sacrifices borne by their families.
U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Kennith Machemer of the 14th Chemical Company (Airborne) recalled that more than 200 service members stepped off together to support the Gold Star families. Sgt. 1st Class Johnson previously served and trained with the unit’s Chemical Reconnaissance Detachment.
"It means the world," Machemer said. "The group motto 'honor the fallen' truly takes shape in events like this where we actually show up in force. It means a lot not, only for the team here, but the families that show up. Seeing that shirt on the back of Miss Debbie, thinking that one day that could be me or one of my Soldiers, just knowing that I hope somebody is there to pick up that torch and do an event in my honor."
Machemer noted that maintaining that legacy is an active responsibility passed between generations of soldiers.
"All the stories that we have of Jeremiah and the stories before us, telling those stories as they're our own to keep those stories alive, it’s going to keep all four of those men alive as long as possible," Machemer said.
As early autumn mist and fog clung to the air and uniforms of the participants, the rhythmic scuff of combat boots against damp pavement transformed the march into living history. Marching shoulder-to-shoulder beneath the weight of heavy rucks, teammates and leaders resolved to keep the memories of the fallen alive. With every passing mile, the group of Soldiers and Gold Star family recounted the fallen men's biography, their steadfast presence downrange, and the daily examples of selfless mentorship they set for those following in their footsteps.
For his former detachment teammate, those remembrances are defined by personal snapshots: Black teaching himself the local Hausa language and playing chess, Wright’s humor and engineering skill, LaDavid Johnson’s tireless mechanical work and athleticism, and Jeremiah Johnson’s immediate integration and willingness to build base defenses.
"It’s like these snapshots of memories outside of the event that happened that really bring you comfort," the Green Beret said. "That makes you remember the people that were there that day; who they were as people, and not just as Soldiers."
The memorial sequence concluded Friday midday outside Johnson Hall with a final accountability formation. Sweat-soaked and weathered by the miles, marchers unbuckled sternum straps and eased the heavy, dead weight of their rucksacks off bruised shoulders and onto the grass and pavement. The formation then dispersed into heartfelt embraces as soldiers greeted visiting family members, enjoying refreshments and shared stories of camaraderie before returning to routine duties across Fort Bragg.
Addressing the gathered formation outside Johnson Hall before dispersing, the Green Beret challenged the younger soldiers to take direct ownership of that lineage moving forward.
"It is your story. It is your legacy. It is your lineage, so treat it like it's yours," he said, thanking the Gannon family and leading the formation in a final traditional toast: "Never above us, never below us, always beside us. One for the airborne Ranger in the sky."
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