Aaron E Fairbairn- OurWarHeroes.org - Tribute sites by Q Madp

Aaron E Fairbairn

Aberdeen, Washington

July 4, 2009

Age

Military

Rank

Unit/Location

Army

Pfc

3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division

Fort Richardson, Alaska

Killed at Combat Outpost Zerok, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked the outpost using small arms and indirect fires.

Welcoming Home Our Hero, Click Photo Below

July 14, 2009

For Memorial Service Snapshots, Click Photo Below

July 18, 2009

From The Seattle Times seattletimes.com 07/05/09:
Aberdeen soldier killed in Afghan bombing on Fourth of July

By Marc Ramirez and Bob Young

Seattle Times staff reporters

David Masters and his wife, Shelley, laughed in relief Friday when they learned their son, an Army private in Afghanistan, was just fine, busy working out and watching videos his family had sent.

Then, on Saturday, Fourth of July morning, an Army chaplain and soldier showed up at their Aberdeen house and told him Pvt. Aaron Fairbairn, 21, had been fatally injured in a truck bombing. Based on news accounts, Masters believes Fairbairn was one of two soldiers fatally injured when a Taliban insurgent drove an explosives-filled truck through the gates of a U.S. base in Afghanistan's eastern Paktika province.

The Department of Defense has yet to confirm the identities of the two killed.

The news was devastating for a family that had come together a decade ago in a union mirroring the "Brady Bunch" clan: The marriage was the second for both Masters and his wife, who each had three kids roughly the same age. Fairbairn was Masters' stepson.

"If there's any day when you're going to make that kind of sacrifice ... " Masters said, his voice tearfully trailing away. Finally, he said: "I realize Aaron's just one guy coming home not sitting in a seat. Lots of other guys have made that same sacrifice."

Until Fairbairn enlisted, family members would drop everything on the Fourth to assemble on the Oregon Coast, an annual tradition. "For our family, it's a really huge deal," Masters said.

This year, Fairbairn's mother, brother and sister flew to Dover, Del., on Independence Day so they could bring the young soldier's remains back to Washington.

"At first I didn't believe it," said Beau Beck, Fairbairn's oldest brother, who learned about his brother's death while he was coaching a Little League team.

"I talked to Aaron probably 12 hours prior to that," Beck said from Dover. "The first thing that rushed to my mind is that he's so young and such a good kid."

His stepfather described him as joyous, honest and dependable, the kid everyone knew first as the paperboy, then as a local lot attendant or the guy who worked at Papa Murphy's Pizza.

Fairbairn, a graduate of Aberdeen's Weatherwax High, was an off-road enthusiast who loved riding dirt bikes and four-wheeling in his truck. He hadn't yet decided what he wanted to do after the service but leaned toward mechanics.

After getting the news of Fairbairn's death, Masters went online, sending out a post on social-networking service Twitter.

Masters noted that he would like to see his son's sacrifice observed using the term #thankyouaaron. For a time late Saturday night his request was fulfilled and "#thankyouaaron" was the most-used term on Twitter, according to the Web site. Other Twitter posters by the thousands thanked Fairbairn and sent words of encouragement to his family.

Just last week, Masters and his wife felt reassured about Fairbairn's well-being even though he was in Afghanistan. They had heard a report saying a U.S. soldier had been kidnapped. Because they hadn't heard from Fairbairn in a while, Masters messaged him on the social-networking site MySpace, which his stepson used to stay in touch with family and friends.

"I told him he'd better call," said Masters, an officer for the state Department of Corrections.

When he finally did, Masters said, it turned out their youngest son hardly ever left the base, spending much of his free time watching the show "Heroes" on DVDs his family had shipped to Afghanistan.

"He was just glad to be over there making a few extra bucks so he could pay off his truck," Masters said.

According to Associated Press reports, the attack on the base was part of a multipronged attack in the Paktika province and came as thousands of U.S. Marines in the country's south continued with a massive anti-Taliban push.

Last month, 3,800 soldiers from Ft. Lewis' 5th (Stryker) Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division started being deployed to southern Afghanistan as part of President Obama's new focus on the war against the Taliban forces. It marks the first time that Stryker Brigade soldiers — who have served in Iraq — have been deployed to the more rugged terrain of Afghanistan.

Beck said some may find patriotic significance in his brother's death on July Fourth. "But I don't care about that. It's my brother."

From KOMO TV 4 komonews.com 07/14/09:

Hero's welcome for fallen soldier

by Keith Eldridge

Originally printed at https://www.komonews.com/news/50800952.html

HOQUIAM, Wash. -- Pfc. Aaron Fairbairn left home to join the Army a year and a half ago. On Tuesday the body of the 20-year-old soldier was flown home and welcomed with full honors.

Fairbairn was serving in Afghanistan with the 4th Brigade Combat Team when a Taliban suicide bomber drove a truck full of explosives into his military camp on July 4.

His family had just talked with him the day before the attack after a week without contact because phones in the military base were down.

"You try not to think the worst, but it does come out and then we heard from him, it was great," said Fairbairn's brother, Beau Beck. "And 12 hours later we get the news. It's just unbelievable."

At Bowerman Field in Hoquiam on Tuesday, Patriot Guard Riders stood at attention as the flag-draped casket was lowered from a private jet provided by the military.

Fairbairn's family and friends were there, along with people who'd never met the young solder but wanted to show their support.

"You can see the support," Beck said. "He was a soldier and that's a lot of it, but he has a lot of friends around here, and it was a great turnout to honor him."

Beck was able to accompany his brother's body on the flight back from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

"That was the biggest honor for me, as his brother, to fly back and bring him back to his hometown."

John Harpe was among the motorcycle riders who took part in the ceremony honoring Fairbairn at the request of the soldier's family.

"I want to let the military service know that the folks back home support them in every aspect of their lives, and we'll be here in their darkest hour as well," he said.

A procession of motorcycles, fire engines and private vehicles escorted Fairbairn's body home from the airport.

"The community came out and showed their respect for a soldier, a brother a friend," Beck said.

Fairbairn joined the Army after he graduated from Aberdeen High School, and a public memorial will be held there at 11 a.m. on Saturday.