Nathaniel Ballor
Sergeant, United States Army
February 15, 1997 – November 4, 2022
Age – 25
Sterling Heights, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) Torii Station, Yomitan Japan
Died when his motorcycle was hit while serving in Japan
Army Sgt. Nathaniel Ballor, 25, graduated from Stevenson High School in June 2015. He then graduated from University of Northern Ohio with an Associates in Diesel Technology in November 2017. He was on the Dean’s List throughout his entire time at UNOH.
Nathaniel entered the Army in November 2017 and attended Basic Combat Training at Ft. Jackson, South Carolina completing it on his 21st birthday as a Private First Class. He immediately went to Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Lee, Virginia for training as a wheeled vehicle mechanic. After completing training at the top of his class in May 2018, he was designated 91B, Enlisted Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic.
Nathaniel then went to Airborne School at Ft. Benning, Georgia where his father pinned his wings on him June 15, 2018. He was then stationed at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina with the 82nd Airborne Division and deployed to Afghanistan from 2019 to 2020.
He arrived on Okinawa as the scheduled-maintenance noncommissioned-officer-in-charge, the Army said. Ballor’s awards include the Army Commendation Medal with one oak leaf cluster and the Army Achievement Medal with a C device for combat and six oak leaf clusters.
He assigned to 1st Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Torii Station in Yomitan, was northbound on Route 58 at 7:11 p.m. when his Suzuki collided at a controlled intersection in Sunabe. Ballor was pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m. at a local hospital, the spokesman said.
A native of Sterling Heights, Mich., Ballor “was a valued teammate, son, and brother. All of 1st Group mourns for him, his family, and friends,” group commander Col. Benjamin Jahn said in a statement emailed to Stars and Stripes on Monday. “He was a great friend and soldier who will be missed.”