Iraq War casualties remembered on Seattle memorial

SEATTLE — Sgt. Curt E. Jordan Jr. and Staff Sgt. Christopher Bunda are among 16 Washington residents being memorialized by having their names engraved on the Washington state Garden of Remembrance outside Benaroya Hall.

“There will not be a formal public unveiling of the names,” said Mike Eagan, chairman of the Garden Remembrance Board, “primarily because we didn’t want to create a scheduling conflict with the existing observances that day. At the same time, we would like to let people around the state know that the names have been added.”

The names, which were done earlier this week, are those who have lost their lives since Operation Enduring Freedom began on Oct. 7, 2001, and Operation Iraqi Freedom, which began March 20, 2003.

Bunda, a Bremerton resident, died in February after drowning on a river patrol to nab insurgents who were firing mortar rounds at U.S. targets in Mosul, Iraq. He left behind a 6-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. Bunda was a sniper assigned to the Army’s first Stryker Brigade based at Fort Lewis.

Jordan was assigned to the 14th Combat Engineer Battalion, 555th Combat Engineer Group, based at Fort Lewis. He was married and had a 6-year-old daughter and 1 1/2-year-old son. His mother resides in Silverdale. He is believed to have died from a fatal reaction to an unknown chemical while conducting a minesweeping operation.

On Monday, May 31, the Garden Advisory Board is placing a wreath in front of the Persian Gulf panel where the names were added and Benaroya Hall, home of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, will play a recording of Mozart’s “Requiem” through speakers on the outside of the building. The Garden of Remembrance is located adjacent to Benaroya Hall on 2nd Avenue at University Street in downtown Seattle.

The names engraved in the granite wall include: Michael Adams; Thomas Allison; Robert Benson; Jay Blessing; Cedric Bruns; Bunda; Benjamin Colgan; Stephen Hattamer; Nathan Hays; Justin Hebert; Jacob Herring; Jordan; Duane Longstreth; Juan Ridout; Kerry Scott and James Shull, along with Roy Ehrler, a World War II casualty.

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