Camp Westbrook, N.M. – Soldiers carry all manner of mementoes into battle. Captain James Egan of Glen Rock wears a silver bracelet with two names.
“These are two soldiers I lost in Iraq,” he said.
Egan, 29, commands the New Jersey National Guard’s Foxtrot Company, based at the Teaneck Armory. But in 2004, he was a newly commissioned lieutenant with the Army’s First Cavalry Division.
Not long after the division entered Iraq, the insurgency, which crippled the country for several years, broke out in full force. Two soldiers from Egan’s platoon, Specialist Ahmed Cason, 24, of Alabama, and Sergeant Adam Estep, 23, of California, were among the early casualties.
Now as Egan returns to Iraq as a captain, with 130 soldiers, he still thinks about the two comrades lost in 2004.
“For me hanging over my head is [that] I want us to come home together,” Egan said of his Foxtrot soldiers. “To do that, we have to work hard and keep together.”
Foxtrot’s soldiers know about Egan’s bracelet and why he continues to wear it.
“It lets them know how serious this is,” Egan said. “You can’t take your mind off what you’re doing. You have to maintain the battle focus.”
Camp Westbrook, N.M. – Soldiers carry all manner of mementoes into battle. Captain James Egan of Glen Rock wears a silver bracelet with two names.
TYSON TRISH / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Jamie Egan of Glen Rock wearing a bracelet inscribed with the names of two of his platoon members who died in 2004 - Ahmed Cason and Adam Estep.
“These are two soldiers I lost in Iraq,” he said.
Egan, 29, commands the New Jersey National Guard’s Foxtrot Company, based at the Teaneck Armory. But in 2004, he was a newly commissioned lieutenant with the Army’s First Cavalry Division.
Not long after the division entered Iraq, the insurgency, which crippled the country for several years, broke out in full force. Two soldiers from Egan’s platoon, Specialist Ahmed Cason, 24, of Alabama, and Sergeant Adam Estep, 23, of California, were among the early casualties.
Now as Egan returns to Iraq as a captain, with 130 soldiers, he still thinks about the two comrades lost in 2004.
“For me hanging over my head is [that] I want us to come home together,” Egan said of his Foxtrot soldiers. “To do that, we have to work hard and keep together.”
Foxtrot’s soldiers know about Egan’s bracelet and why he continues to wear it.
“It lets them know how serious this is,” Egan said. “You can’t take your mind off what you’re doing. You have to maintain the battle focus.”
