Shawn D. Gajdos
Specialist, United States Army
March 3, 1982 – June 6, 2007
Age – 25
Grand Rapids, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, KS
Died of wounds received when his unit was attacked by insurgents using improved explosive devices and small arms fire in Baghdad, Iraq.
Shawn’s desire to assist others less fortunate always shone through. He’d do anything for anyone and gave his life for freedom, serving in the US Army in Iraq and never regretted going into the service. He said it was the best decision he ever made.
He was finally accepted into the Army after his third attempt. They had said his acne was too bad the first two attempts. When they went over his information list, they noticed that he was a free climber – meaning he didn’t use ropes to climb mountains and the Rangers immediately approached him. When the Commanding Officer saw his extremely high IQ, he was immediately put in the front office and called him their “go to guy” because he knew how to fix any problems with any equipment they had. His father said a flaw in his personality was that he didn’t know when to quit. His unit was delivering equipment to a remote outpost and were a man short and he volunteered immediately. During the delivery, the unit was ambushed with 13 wounded and 2 killed – one of them being Shawn. He was the gunner operating a 50 Cal gun on top of the Humvee turret taking two rounds to the head.
Shawn’s goal was to receive his Combat Infantry Badge which was presented posthumously.