Last Updated on July 24, 2019
This past weekend, SFC Kristoffer B. Domeij, was killed in Afghanistan on his 14th deployment. Fourteenth. He had deployed four times to Iraq and this was his tenth deployment to Afghanistan. He joined in July of 2001 and has since spent 48 months deployed overseas — not to mention countless months away from his family while he was training.
First and foremost, my condolences and prayers go out to his family and friends, as well as his fellow brothers who are still serving.
My husband was also in Ranger BN so I understand the deployment schedule this unit endures but it still always amazes me to see the number of deployments that some soldiers have dealt with in a relatively short amount of time. I remember seeing my husband off on what turned out to be his last deployment before medical retirement. I was talking to one of the other guys in his unit who joined prior to 9/11 and he was already in double digits as far as the number of deployments — and that was four years ago.
Dealing with multiple deployments, even if they are shorter ones, is so hard on the family. We were constantly on countdown. As soon as he returned, we couldn’t do anything more than count down until he was leaving again because it was never that far away. Until he was medically retired, we were never truly just able to enjoy him being home without the dread of knowing he was leaving again soon.
As my husband always says, it takes a special person to deal with that kind of deployment schedule and still absolutely love his job and what he does. But he did and I’m sure SFC Domeij did as well.
All of our soldiers are brave men and women who have that special quality that allows them to put country above self. As more and more time goes by, I feel like our country as a whole becomes more and more complacent. We forget about the sacrifices that are being made every day by those who serve and the families they leave behind. We take for granted that we are walking around freely because of those who serve today and those who served before them.
We need to remember. We need to respect. We need to say thank you.
SFC Domeij, your sacrifice will not be forgotten. RLTW.
