Bryan Phillip Pitney
Staff Sergeant, United States Army
April 8, 1981 – October 19, 2014
Age – 33
Deerfield, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, TX
Died from injuries sustained in a motorcycle accident 11 days after returning from his 6th deployment
Staff Sergeant Bryan Pitney was born April 8, 1981 in Honolulu, HI. As a child, he moved around as his father was in the Navy, but the family eventually settled in Deerfield, MI. Bryan loved to go camping with his family and stay active playing sports. He played football, basketball and ran track in school. To this day, he still holds the high school record. In addition to his athletic ability, he was also musically talented playing the saxophone, bass guitar and even sang in the high school dinner theater. He graduated from Deerfield High School in 1999.
Staff Sergeant Bryan Pitney was a Soldier and on Oct. 8, 2014, he returned from deployment. It was his sixth trip to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Eleven days later, he was dead. He left behind a wife, four kids and a shattered unit.
Pitney entered active-duty service in June 1999, as an Apache attack helicopter repairman. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry He had been on active duty since 1999 and served as an AH-64 Apache helicopter repairman.
He deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom from January 2002 to April 2002, March 2003 to August 2003 and April 2009 to April 2010, officials said. He deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from March 2005 to March 2006 and June 2011 to May 2012. Pitney returned from Afghanistan, his sixth war-zone deployment, just 11 days before the accident.
“He was truly an amazing man, and he is missed by so many people,” Christina Pitney said. “He was the love of my life. He was an avid motorcycle rider. He was home [from deployment] one day and he was already working on getting [his bike] up and ready.”
He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood. The soldier from Deerfield, Michigan, joined the unit in June 2008.
Pitney’s awards and decorations include six Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, five Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, Iraqi Campaign Medal with campaign star, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, two Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, Army Service Ribbon, three Overseas Service Ribbons, NATO Medal and Aviation Badge.