Moneeka N. Mayo-Vandergeld

Private First Class, United States Army

September 20, 1979 – December 14, 2008
Age – 29
Wyoming, MI

Company A, Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion, Fort Huachuca, AZ

Mayo lost her life in December of 2008 during a ruck march while testing for the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency (GAFPB)

Army PFC Moneeka Mayo Vandergeld was training for the Army Unmanned Aircraft Systems Battalion when she died Dec. 14, 2008. 

Moneeka Mayo lost her life during a 15 mile ruck march in Ft. Huachuca while testing for the German Armed Forces Badge for Military Proficiency (GAFPB). During the ruck march portion of the test, she died from a punctured lung, an injury incurred during a combatives tournament days before. She was posthumously awarded the GAFPB Gold Medal. Mayo was an airborne soldier for nearly a decade before her death.

Vandergeld was born September 20, 1979, in Memphis, Tenn., and graduated from Rochester Adams High School in 1997. She attended Michigan State University before serving eight years in the Army Reserve in Inkster. Vandergeld was the older of two children and was the mother of two young daughters. She was a resident of Wyoming, Mich., was a co-owner of Expansion Mortgage Company in Grand Rapids and conducted financial literacy for young women at the local YWCA. At the time of her death, Vandergeld was stationed at Fort Huachuca near Tucson.

Moneeka was a devoted and loving mother and wife, her family wrote in an obituary notice. She was energetic, lively, caring, thoughtful and gentle, placing her family above all else. She was truly loved, and her presence is greatly missed by her family, friends and comrades in the Armed Forces.

Vandergeld’s faith played a role in her life from childhood, her family said, stating that she confessed her hope in Christ at an early age at the Sparks Street Church of Christ in Paris, Tenn.