Eric Hario
Private First Class, United States Army
December 9, 1989 – August 29, 2009
Age – 19
Monroe, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Hunter Army Airfield, GA
Died of wounds sustained when he was shot by enemy forces Aug. 28 while conducting combat operations.
PFC Eric Hario was on his first deployment in support of the War on Terror.
After graduating from Monroe High School where he lettered in football and wrestling, Hario enlisted in the U.S. Army in June 2008. By enlisting after high school, Eric was following tradition. His father was in the Navy and his oldest brother, Robert Hario, is in the Army. Eric planned to stay in the service “for some time. He just wanted to be a Special Forces guy and wanted to be in the Army since he was about 5 years old.
He completed One Station Unit Training at Fort Benning Ga., as an infantryman. After graduating from the Basic Airborne Course there, he was assigned to the Ranger Indoctrination Program also at Fort Benning. Upon graduation from the Ranger Indoctrination Program, he was assigned to Company A, 1st Bn., 75th Ranger Regiment in January 2009 where he served as a grenadier.
His military education includes the Basic Airborne Course and the Ranger Indoctrination Program. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and the Parachutist Badge.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and Purple Heart.
“He did not fight in vain. He did not die in vain,” said Chaplain Dave Bowles of the 75th Ranger Regiment. He described PFC Hario as a soldier who fought for his flag and country and who set a fine example for everyone. He was shot in the neck in the early stages of a fierce 20-hour firefight in a mountainous area of eastern Afghanistan, Army officials said. Chaplain Bowles said Pfc. Hario “gave 100 percent and then some as he served with America’s most elite infantry unit, the Army Rangers.”
“Pfc. Eric Hario is one of our nation’s heroes,” Col. Michael (Erik) Kurilla, 75th Regiment commander, told those attending the funeral. “He died fighting our nation’s enemies in the mountains of Afghanistan. He died while fighting an enemy that is “ideologically opposed to everything we stand for. Let us thank God that such men as Eric have lived.”
Mrs. Hario also described how she spoke with Eric on the phone the night before he went into the fateful battle. He had told her “no matter what happens, I love you all very much and, Mom, you are always in my heart.”
Eric was on top of the world serving as a Ranger. It had been his dream since elementary school. As he got older, he enjoyed playing video games with military themes and he had a large American flag hanging in his bedroom. Eric was committed to the Army and he had the knowledge and the confidence to be the very best.