A Phipps Memorial associate who oversees production for the monument business Wayne Smith puts the finishing touches on the name engraving of Spc. Ronnie G. Madore Jr., at the 1st Cavalry Division’s Operation Iraqi Freedom memorial located at Fort Hood, Texas, April 16.

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The native of San Diego who died in Baqubah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle Feb. 14, 2007, was assigned to the First Team’s 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

U.S. Army photo by SPC Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

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Wayne Smith, the shop foreman of the Waco, Texas-based monument business Phipps Memorial, etches out the name of Sgt. Robert B. Thrasher at the Fort Hood’s Operation Iraqi Freedom memorial located in front of the 1st Cavalry Division’s headquarters building April 16.

Thrasher, a Folsom, Calif., native assigned to the Company D, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Bliss, Texas, was 23 years old when he died Feb. 11, 2007, from wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy small arms fire. His unit later dedicated their outpost located in southern Ghazaliyah to him – Coalition Outpost Thrasher.

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U.S. Army photo by SPC Jeffrey Ledesma, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs