Patriot Soldiers honor fallen comrade

A display at the Main Post Chapel honors Cpl. Jason Allen Lucas, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th BCT, during a memorial ceremony Friday at Fort Polk Main Post Chapel. Photo by Pfc. Grant Okubo

FORT POLK, La. – Friends, fellow Fort Polk Soldiers, leaders and community members gathered Oct. 20 in the Main Post Chapel to pay respect to a fallen 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (LI) Soldier.

Attendees at the memorial service gathered not to feel sorrow for a loss but to remember Cpl. Jason Allen Lucas, an automatic rifleman and team leader from 1st Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment.

Lucas, 24, of Columbus, Ohio, was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom and died after a vehicle-born improvised explosive device detonated near a NATO convoy Oct. 13 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Lucas is 2-30 Infantry’s first combat death.

Throughout the memorial service, leaders and Soldiers spoke of Lucas’ upstanding character and what he meant to his comrades. After getting the call to send some troops to support OEF, 2-30 Infantry leaders selected Soldiers of A Company.

“I chose the best that I had,” said Lt. Col. Ronald Metternich, 2-30 Infantry commander. “I chose my A team. I chose Staff Sgt. (Matthew) Davis and his 1st squad.” Lucas was in Davis’ squad.

Born in Knoxville, Tenn., Lucas entered the Army in 2004 and soon exhibited characteristics his comrades would come to know and admire.

“Cpl. Lucas was the Soldier any leader was incredibly lucky to have,” wrote Davis, who is still deployed in Kandahar, in remarks for a memorial ceremony in theater that were read here. “As his squad leader, not only did I watch him develop and grow as an infantryman, I also watched as he affected me as a leader, as a man, and as he strengthened the bond of the men.”

For Soldiers of Wild Boar Battalion, in particular his squad members, many chose to follow Lucas’ example, drawing strength from him and what their time together taught them as they bonded through their unique experiences.

“Jason was a friend and a brother to us,” Davis wrote. “An amazing bond is shared between infantrymen as they train together, live together and fight together. And today, more so than ever before, the bond is solid, because Jason continues to make us strong, make us laugh and bring us together as he always has.”

During the memorial, a video honoring Lucas was shown, capturing moments his comrades shared with him. As Soldiers in the chapel viewed the photos, it was almost as though Lucas himself was looking down at them through the projection screen.

“And Jason, I ask you to keep an eye out, and whenever you see us coming, pop a chem (chemical) light and guide us in to that big patrol base in the sky,” Davis wrote. “We love you, brother.”
Lucas is survived by his wife, Monica; his two children, Ethan and Zaustin; his father, Billy Lucas; and his mother, Beth Driscoll.