Florence County, South Carolina Genealogy Trails
Charlotte Observer, The (NC) - April 16, 2004
Maj. Michael
Stack
For 27 years, Sgt. Maj. Michael Stack answered the call.
On Thursday, he did not. During a
customary roll call at his memorial, the Green Beret's name was
called out three times with no reply as his comrades and family
wept.
Stack, 48, a father of six and devout
Christian, was killed Easter Sunday when his convoy was attacked by
small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire south of Baghdad. It
was his second tour in Iraq.
"We will never forget him and will honor
his memory by staying on course and accomplishing this mission,"
said Col. Hector Pagan of the 5th Special Forces Group, based at
Fort Campbell, 50 miles north of Nashville, Tenn.
On the altar rested spit-shined black
boots, a rifle, dog tags and a green beret. There also was a picture
of Stack smiling in a navy blue jacket.
About 500 people attended the memorial service inside a
military chapel and watched it on television in a gymnasium next
door.
Stack, of Lake City, S.C., started his
career in the 82nd Airborne Division in 1977. It is there that he
earned the nickname "No Black Billy Jack Stack."
In 1998, he joined the elite special
forces, and was sergeant major of his company when he was killed.
Comrades described him as an inspiring
leader and friend to all.
"He led with a sense of humor, but there
was no doubt in anyone's mind that he meant business," Pagan said.
His brother, Cecil Stack, a retired
sergeant major, said Stack was a dedicated Christian who led by
example.
"I'm a Christian today because of my
little brother as I know are many others," Cecil Stack said.
Stack also had three grandchildren. Three
of his children are grown. The others, ages 7, 5 and 3, are from a
second marriage.
Stack's wife, Suzanne, declined to be
interviewed.
"Mike was her soul mate, the love of her
life. Mike is in her heart, and she knows she is in Mike's," Cecil
Stack said, reading a statement from her before the ceremony.
"Suzanne finds strength in knowing Mike
died doing what he believed in, and because of their strong
Christian faith Mike is in a better place with God, and they will be
together again."
Stack was the 61st soldier from Fort
Campbell to die in Iraq and the third from the 5th Group. The others
killed were from the 101st Airborne Division also based at Fort
Campbell.
Two others were wounded in the attack
that killed Stack, said Maj. Jim Whatley. One returned to duty and
the other will be medically evacuated to the United States, Whatley
said.
Charlotte Observer, The (NC) - April 15,
2004
Army Sgt. Maj. Michael Boyd Stack a father of five and
Lake City, S.C., native, was killed in Iraq after his convoy was
ambushed returning from patrol, his brother said Tuesday.
Stack, who was part of a special forces
unit based at Fort Campbell, Ky., was one of roughly 80 U.S. troops
killed in April during a flare-up of violence in Iraq.
The 1974 graduate of South Florence High
School turned 48 a week before he was killed Sunday, said his older
brother, retired Sgt. Maj. Cecil Stack of Lake City.
Besides the 101st Airborne Division, Fort
Campbell is home to two special operations units that have fought in
Afghanistan and Iraq: the 5th Special Forces Group and the 160th
Special Operations Aviation Regiment.
The Department of Defense said Wednesday
that Michael Stack, who was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 5th
Special Forces Group, was killed during combat operations in the Al
Anbar province.
Stack, who had been in Iraq since
February, was the 14th South Carolinian to die in Iraq since the war
began more than a year ago.
"Mike's my best friend and we talked
often," Cecil Stack said. "He said 'We're doing the right thing and
for the right reasons and we're helping a lot of people.' That's
what he told me. You can't argue with that.
"He believed in the Army. He loved the
Army," Cecil Stack said of his younger brother. "He had told his
wife if this did happen, he died doing what he believed in and that
he would be in a better place, and those are words that have kept me
going knowing that."
A memorial service will be held later in
the week.