Mark Schoonhoven
Sergeant, United States Army
June 13, 1974-January 20, 2013
Age – 38
Plainwell, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
32nd Transportation Company, 43rd Sustainment Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, CO
Killed by an improvised explosive device while conducting operations in Bayji, Iraq
At 32, the Plainwell native enlisted in the U.S. Army. During basic training, he ranked in physical training exercises, beating out fellow recruits 10 years his junior. When he went in, he said he was going to give it his all. I think he did more than he thought he could do himself, and he was proud of what he did. And we were proud of him,” his mother Deb Schoonhoven said. This was his third deployment in Afghanistan.
Schoonhoven spent most of his life in Plainwell, attended Plainwell High School and graduated from Delton Kellogg. He enjoyed being outdoors: fishing and camping were some of his favorite pastimes. But he also enjoyed computers and video games, including “World of Warcraft.” He was married and had six children.
Before enlisting, Mark Schoonhoven had numerous jobs in the area, including a tree-cutting business that he started. Nothing really panned out and one day he said he wanted to enlist.
Mark Schoonhoven dedicated himself to the service from the time he spent training to the tattoos that marked various accomplishments in the service. He graduated basic training and served as a motor-transport operator for the 32nd Transportation Company, 4th Infantry Division.
Schoonhoven also completed paratrooper training with the 82nd Airborne Division.
He volunteered for the service. For many of the younger soldiers, Schoonhoven was a fatherly figure. He wanted to do everything he could… to keep the people under him safe. That’s why he went back the last time. He didn’t want them to go by themselves. And that was just part of his character. Even though he had a family, he made sure his troops were taken care of too.
And 18 days into the 9-month deployment, Mark Schoonhoven was in the 10th truck of convoy in Kabul. It was snowing and the trucks had to follow in each other tracks. His truck detonated the IED. Mark Schoonhoven was thrown around the vehicle and suffered numerous injuries, including a concussion and broken back. Schoonhoven was taken to a hospital and went into a coma. As strong as he was, we thought he could pull through.