Gov. Cooper, other state officials remember NC National Guard members lost after 9/11
Staff Sgt. Bobby Franklin became the first member of the North Carolina National Guard to be killed in the wars following 9/11. He was 38 when he died on Aug. 20, 2003, in Baghdad, Iraq. His vehicle struck an IED hidden along the side of a road. He was married, with a son and daughter.
A photo of Franklin — wearing camouflage; brown eyes; a smile under a close-trimmed mustache — flashed on a large screen in an auditorium Saturday afternoon at the North Carolina Joint Force Headquarters, where Gov. Roy Cooper and other state officials gathered for a commemorative ceremony on the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
The events of that Tuesday morning, 20 years ago, led to nearly two decades of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In those wars, 26 members of the North Carolina National Guard lost their lives. Franklin was the first and Sgt. James Slape the last. A Morehead City native, Slape was 23 when he died on Oct. 4, 2018, in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan.
He was a high school senior when he enlisted in the National Guard, and he’d been married for less than a year when he lost his life. In Afghanistan, he was a member of the 430th Explosive Ordinance Disposal Detachment.
Relatives of eight of those North Carolina National Guard servicemen and women who died in the wars following 9/11 attended the commemoration Saturday. The names of the 26 who died were read aloud, their images on the screen a few moments at a time. After their names had been read, a small National Guard band played taps.
“I think we all remember where we were, and what we were doing, and how we felt — anger and despair, but at the same time, determination and patriotism,” Cooper said of 9/11, addressing a roomful of National Guardsman and women in their uniforms. Cooper offered his appreciation to those who’d served and especially to those who’d lost their lives.
“There’s also something I hope we never forget,” Cooper said. “And that is the feeling of unity that Americans experienced in the wake of that devastating day. Rather than isolate, we Americans chose to congregate. Rather than turning to fight each other, we turned to fight terrorism.
“As we continue remembering the 9/11 attacks, we need to tap into that unity, strength, courage and resilience more than ever. We need to harness that feeling of togetherness to continue supporting our service members, the.ir families and the families of the fallen.”
Outside the auditorium, a touchscreen computer monitor contained obituaries for the 26 members of the National Guard who died in the wars following 9/11. They contained details about the lives of the lost.
Sgt. Joshua Schmit was planning to go back to school to study culinary arts when he died at 26 in Fallujah, Iraq, on April 14, 2007. Sgt Juan Carlos Baldeosingh was “remembered as a fun-loving family guy who was known as a jokester” when he died at 30 on June 29, 2009, in Baghdad. 1st Lt. Ashley White was 24, two years removed from her graduation at Kent State, when she died on Oct. 22, 2011, in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan.
Down the hall from the monitor with the obituaries was a display case and beneath the glass was a twisted piece of steel. It had been retrieved from the North Tower of the World Trade Center and 20 years later it served as a reminder of the day the towers fell, and everything that was to come.
This story was originally published September 11, 2021 at 6:15 PM with the headline "Gov. Cooper, other state officials remember NC National Guard members lost after 9/11."
