Sean Ferguson
By Roni Miller
Editor's note: This article appeared in the July 5, 2006 issue of the Valley Voice. It is being reprinted this week as a tribute to Sean Ferguson, a Visalian who died last week in Iraq at the age of 29, Ferguson, a two-time recipient of the Purple Heart, had retired from the Army and was working for a private security contractor. The details surrounding his death have yet to be released by the U.S. State Department, whose initial report to the family indicated the soldier may have died from “natural causes.” Ferguson will be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery with full military honors on Dec. 14.
Visalia
- A world away from the war, Sean Ferguson watches his three-year-old
nephew as he plays with the toy versions of an Army Humvee and Kiowa helicopter;
the same ones Ferguson saw on a daily basis in Iraq.
As he sits with his parents in their Visalia home, Ferguson talks about his experience in the war. His sister, Amy Sorensen, and her son, Noah, are visiting from Ohio and attended the Freedom Festival where Ferguson was honored last month. Ferguson also has an older brother, Matt, who served in Iraq in the Air Force.
Ferguson, 23, a 2001 Mt. Whitney High School graduate, received the Freedom Award from local radio station, KDUV, and Visalia Nazarene Church, for his service in the war. The ceremony was held on June 24.
Serving as a sergeant with the Army's 1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, known as the "Deuce Four," Ferguson had the job of running recognizance and worked as a scout sniper for the infantry unit.
Ferguson believes in what his country is doing for the Iraqi people. “As a free people, our only mission should be to give that freedom to the oppressed people of the world,” he said.
“I saw a lot of good going on in Iraq: people not having to live in mud huts anymore, good schools being built, sewage systems, meals every day, things those people never had before,” Ferguson added. “Now we just have to keep the insurgents from destroying those things.”
Ferguson's division also helped build several police stations and was instrumental in getting the citizens of Mosul to come out by the thousands to vote in their first election.
“Now, everywhere I go someone will come up to me and say 'good job' or show appreciation. I think that only happens here in the Valley, though, not in the bigger cities,” he said. “There is a huge amount of support from people here.”
“The Freedom Festival was great; a lot of fun. I'd really like to thank the Visalia Nazarene Church and the Latino Peace Officer Association for all their support,” added Ferguson. The LPOA presented Ferguson with an award last year.
His mother, Raelynn Ferguson, a Visalia Unified School District teacher, said, “Our family really appreciates all the support. When the boys were in Iraq, complete strangers would knock on our door and bring us cookies, or veterans would see all the yellow ribbons and just stop and talk to us. It was nice to have so much compassion from the community. And then the Naz church went the extra step to give this honor.”
Ferguson earned two Purple Hearts for injuries he sustained in Iraq. After his second, more serious injury, he met Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, but Ferguson said, “I had just come out of surgery and was still groggy. I only remember telling him my name and that I was from Visalia.”
Ferguson was in the line of fire more than twice.
“Our striker vehicle was hit by IED's (Improvised Explosive Device) about four to five times, and once by a suicide vehicle and one vehicle with a 100-pound shape charge,” said Ferguson. “We were in easily more than a hundred firefights. I served 380 actual combat missions.”
To which his mother replied, “I didn't even know that!”
Ferguson credits God for watching over him and his fellow soldiers. “Every time we were on a mission, it was as if the whole platoon was in a bubble. We all got hurt; we all got Purple Hearts, but we only lost two. We went with 30 in our platoon and came home with 28,” he said.
The two lost to which Ferguson referred are his friends Sgt. Adam Plumondore and Sgt. Benjamin Morton. In an emotional speech during the Freedom Festival, Ferguson dedicated his Freedom Award to the two.
Ferguson's unit, the Deuce Four, was one of two units in Iraq to earn the rare honor of the Army's “Valorous Unit Award.” The other unit was the 3rd Infantry, which led the invasion into Baghdad.
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