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332nd ECES firefighters retire memorial plaque

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Tong Duong
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  More than 60 Airmen and Soldiers attended the retiring ceremony of Staff Sgt. Ray Rangel's memorial April 6 at the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron fire station.

Staff Sgt. Ray Rangel, 332nd ECES firefighter died Feb. 13, 2006, while trying to rescue two soldiers trapped in a Humvee that had overturned in a canal. Sergeant Rangel, who was deployed from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, led a team of five others during the rescue when he disappeared from sight. His body was found downstream a few hours later. Rangel was the first Airman from Dyess to die in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

"The plaque on the memorial is being removed so that it can be shipped to Sergeant Rangel's home base," said Master Sgt. Jeffrey Yelencich, 332nd ECES noncommissioned officer in charge of fire prevention, who is deployed from Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Mich. "As we transition from the base I believe that it is important to all members of the Air Force fire protection community that his memory be preserved."

A cousin of Sergeant Ray Rangel, Tech. Sgt. Jason Rangel, 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group quality assurance, who is deployed from Kadena Air Base, Japan, believes it's a nice gesture to take the memorial plaque back to Dyess AFB.

"His kids still live in the area and it would make it available for them to go and see," Sergeant Rangel, a San Antonio, Texas, native said. "I would also like to thank all the "Fire Dawgs" for the love and kind words they have provided over the years. I now know why Ray loved being part of the fire department; they truly are a large family of brethren."

According to Sergeant Yelencich, a native of Richmond, Mich., a plaque designed and crafted by the U.S. Army 238th Support Maintenance Company, Texas, will take Sergeant Rangel's place at the memorial.

At the end of the next rotation the replacement plaque will be presented to the Defense Department's Fire Protection lead training facility, Louis F. Garland Fire Academy, Goodfellow AFB, Texas.

"It will be displayed with other important historical pieces related to the fire protection community," Sergeant Yelencich said.