Home > War Comes Home as M/Sgt. Michael Hiester, 33,1 of 4 of U.S. Killed in Afghan Land Mine Blast

March 28, 2005

War Comes Home as M/Sgt. Michael Hiester, 33,1 of 4 of U.S. Killed in Afghan Land Mine Blast

By JIM BARBIERI

The war against terrorism that erupted enormously and violently on September 11th, 2001, came home with staggering impact in Bluffton and Wells County Saturday as the notifications arrived that  M/Sgt. Michael T. Hiester of Bluffton was killed that day in Afghanistan.

Operations and Intelligence sergeant for the Bluffton unit in the Indiana National Guard and a member of the Bluffton Fire Department for more than 13 years since the start of 1992, M/Sgt. Hiester was one of four Indiana National Guardsmen killed when their military vehicle  struck a land mine in central Afghanistan.

M/Sgt. Hiester, who was a  leader among the nearly 90 Bluffton unit guardsmen who did almost six months of peacekeeping duty in Bosnia -- serving there as a platoon leader for 3rd Platoon, E-238th Cavalry  -- had been called up again --  ironically one year ago this Easter Sunday -- on March 27, 2004.

He was ordered that day to duty with HQ 76th Infantry Brigade in support of Operation Enduring Freedom -- the mission name for the Afghanistan campaign.

His departure date was then last April 7, 2004,  for a duty tour “in excess of one year.”

However understood by some here was that he was expected to be returned to the U.S. up to a week or  two ago but in any case with the next week to 10 days.

U.S. military spokeswoman Lt. Cindy Moore and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, gave information on the tragic events Saturday.

M/Sgt. Hiester was part of a group of American and Afghan officials checking out a potential site for a shooting practice range in a desert area of Logar Province 24 miles south of Kabul, the Afghanistan capital.

Training of Afghan troops has been the primary mission of Hiester and others of the more than 1,100 Indiana National Guard soldiers among the 17,000 U.S. soldiers fighting the Taliban-remnants-led terrorist elements, believed to be harboring  and hiding al-Qaida militants in Afghanistan.

Those checking out the prospective shooting range site were in three vehicles by information of Lt. Moore.

Just one of the three vehicles was involved in the land mine episode, the accounts indicated. All four of that vehicle’s occupants were killed. There were no additional injuries, the Army said.

 Stated was that the four bodies were airlifted to the main U.S. base in Afghanistan at Bagram.

Mullah Hakim Latifi, a man claiming to speak for the Taliban, was reported by The Associated Press as claiming that Taliban fighters set off the mine by remote control.

He said by satellite phone from an undisclosed source to the Associated Press that  “we’ve said again and again that we would resume our holy war in the spring.”

The same day (Saturday) Uruzgan Gov. Jan  Mohammed Kahn said U.S. forces detained two suspected Taliban militants the day before (Friday) as they  tried to plant a remote-controlled mine on a road in that province, added The Associated Press.

However, the military  accounts still cast doubt on such claims.

 While Lt. Moore said U.S. troops first had toured the Saturday blast scene about a week earlier in their hunt for a shooting range site on which to train more Afghan troops, Gov. Mohammed Aman Hamini said the Saturday episode occurred in a desert area crisscrossed by rough tracks.

“It an old mine. There’s no traffic on the route they took, but the Russians used to use it because they were afraid of the main road,” Hamini was quoted by The Associated Press.

Lt. Moore said investigators suspected this mine an old charge dislodged by recent rain and snow, or that  the vehicle had wandered into an unmapped minefield.

“We believe it was an old mine that could have shifted,” she was quoted by the news service.

Gov. Daniels spoke with Associated Press reporters reporters while attending the Indiana High School boys basketball championships in Indianapolis Saturday.

“Obviously, it’s just a day of incredible sadness,’’ stated the governor, who confirmed Saturday that notifications had been made to family members of the four at various locations in Indiana. There was no release of the names by the governor then. The usual policy is to wait at least 24 hours after the notifications before disclosures in material to the press. Thus the names came forth officially Sunday afternoon.

In a written statement, Gov. Daniels originally said:

“Four brave and irreplaceable citizens have lost their lives for all of us in the noblest of causes. I ask the prayers of every Hoosier for their families as we grieve and and await their return home.”

Action in Afghanistan was reported to have picked up this past week. The U.S.military said  its air and ground operations have killed eight suspected militants and four suspected civilian participants this past week.

Of the 122 American soldiers who have died since the U.S. mounted its attack to oust the Taliban after the September 11 episode and indications the Taliban was harboring al-Qaida militants, many of those Americans have died in  accidents including a number involving old mines left behind by the Russians from the 1980s or the Afghan factions including the Taliban that fought each other after the Soviets withdrew.

The blast Saturday was the deadliest incident for the U.S. military in Afghanistan since May 29, 2004, when four American special forces soldiers were killed in Zabul province, near the Pakistani border, reportedly by an intentionally laid mine.

The bloodiest Afghan incident for U.S. forces was an accidental explosion at an arms dump in Ghazni province that killed eight American soldiers in January last year.

Four American soldiers were killed in the April of 2002 Afghanistan munitions blast in which PFC Jason Stiffler of Bluffton received major injuries  from which he has only partially recovered.

ALSO…

Capt. Michael Fiscus, Who Headed Bluffton Guard Unit,
Killed With Hiester, 2 Others

By JIM BARBIERI

The already-giant blow here over the death of M/Sgt. Michael Hiester of Bluffton in Afghanistan was amplified  by the news that the commanding officer for the Bluffton  National Guard unit when the unit was dispatched to Bosnia in 2002 was killed in the same episode.

He was Capt. Michael T. Fiscus, 37,  of Warsaw.

The other two victims in the Saturday blast when the military vehicle they were operating struck a land mine were:

-- Spec. Brett Hershey, 23, of Indianapolis, and Spec. Norman Snyder, 19, of Carlisle.

All were in the Guard’s 76th Infantry Brigade.

Capt. Fiscus spoke for the Bluffton National Guard Unit at the Bluffton High School public sendoff in January of 2002 for the deployment to Bosnia of about 90 members of E Troop, 238th Cavalry, based at the Bluffton Armory and commanded by Capt. Fiscus.

More is in a separate account today on Fiscus in Bluffton.

ALSO…

Hiester Letters to Mayor, N-B  Editor From Bosnia Told  Feelings  On Community, Nation

By JIM BARBIERI
In messages dispatched to Mayor Ted Ellis and to this News-Banner editor in the 2002 timeframe when federal-state safety concerns called off our arrangements and those of others to visit the Bluffton unit National Guard troops in Bosnia, Mike Hiester expressed his own feelings about the community and the nation.

In one message to Mayor Ellis (with a copy sent here), he wrote:
“I wanted to drop you a line to tell you how sorry we all were that you and the other guests from Indiana were unable to visit us.  We haven't heard the entire story yet, but it appears to be something about aircraft maintenance.  That's something you don't want to mess with.  If the airplane smart guys  say don't fly, then we don't fly.
“The nice thing about a small community like Bluffton is the family-like surroundings.  All of the men from Bluffton that are stationed with me over here were excited when they heard you were coming.  Most didn't know you personally, but they were thrilled that their mayor was going to visit. 
“Many of the larger cities represented here either weren't sending a  representative or the soldiers didn't share our excitement.  We understand that the trip was cancelled and that things like that happen.  But I wanted  to tell you how much it meant to the men for you to have been planning on  visiting.
“We have 3 months to go, and after being away from home for 6 months that doesn't seem like much.  We are beginning to plan our redeployment timeline  which is encouraging.  That means we are on the downhill slide now.  This  has been a great opportunity for all of us.  It did not take me long to  remember why I enjoyed my former travels to Europe.  Meeting other people  and experiencing other cultures is an education in itself.  But more  importantly it allows us to learn more about ourselves and appreciate what  we have at home.
 “I tell people that Bosnia is like a bad soap opera.  Greed, corruption, violence, and dishonesty are paramount.  It frustrates me  to see so many people resigned to just accepting their lot.  It makes me  appreciate those in Wells County and Bluffton who participate and wish to  make life and conditions better for themselves, their families, and their  communities.
 “I have always considered becoming more involved, and this  experience has spurred me towards being more active  when I return.  The  infrastructure over here is almost non-existent, and the political process is  flawed to say the least.  I meet daily with businessmen, politicians, elected and appointed officials to assist in rebuilding and stabilizing the  opstinas that I am responsible for.  An opstina is basically like a county - As a Platoon Leader, I work with 2 different opstinas.
  “Ted, you thought  that council meetings, and such could be difficult at times.  You would go  insane at the way the political game is played over here.  A free bucket of  sand from the Sava will get you a meeting with the mayor, or a small bribe  will get you an application for resettlement (so you can have your own house  back).
“Well I know that you are a very busy man, so I don't want to keep you any  longer.  I only intended to share our thanks for the planned trip and to  tell you that we genuinely missed seeing you.  I thought, however, that you  might enjoy hearing a little about the way cities  operate over here.  It has  truly been an education for me.
“Take care of each other, and we will see you soon.”

SFC Michael Hiester
Platoon Leader
Bosnia-Herzegovina

In a prior 2002 message to this editor from Bosnia, then-SFC Hiester wrote:
“I wish to convey my appreciation to the citizens of Bluffton and the surrounding communities. The support that E Troop, 238th Cavalry received during the months leading up to our activation was greatly appreciated. In January, Mayor Ellis took the lead in giving the Bluffton  National Guard Troop a send-off that will ever be remembered by those of us honored that day,’’ wrote Hiester.
“I encourage you to continue to keep the men of Echo Troop in your thoughts and prayers. But more than that, I ask that you continue to support our families at home. We, here in Bosnia have the easy job. Our spouses and loved ones must manage our homes, families and affairs in our absence. After more than 10 months, that becomes an incredible burden. (Hiester was alluding to the preparation time leading up to the Bosnia duty plus overseas deployment itself.)
“The service men and women deployed overseas or serving stateside do so with the greatest of pride. Nothing represents that pride more than our National Colors. I was deeply touched by the show of patriotism after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. I also was saddened that such an event was needed  to revive a wave of pride throughout our nation.
“Everywhere one went in the months after September 11, the Red, the White and the Blue could be seen prominently on display. Patriotism is not a fad; it is what makes America strong. I urge you to stay the fight. Support the men and women of the Armed Forces and their families. The sacrifices they make are unfathomable.
“I look forward to returning home late in the year and seeing the American Flag and yellow bows lining the streets of Bluffton.
 “I am asked often why we are in the Balkans, as well as other places around the world. Kelly Hake sums it up so elegantly in Stars, Stripes and Sacrifice:
The thirteen stripes not only represent the original thirteen colonies that conceived the notion of our freedom, their colors also honor our country‘s greatest men. From basic liberties to sweet justice, etched in those white lines lies the promise of our nation. The lifeblood spilled by our armed forces is mourned in broad red streams across this most recognized badge of American splendor. Every freedom we have shines there, sandwiched between crimson lines of sacrifice.
“Our forefathers designated the white stars on a blue field to represent a new constellation such as those God placed in the Heavens. Together, we create the living legend that a government based on tolerance and freedom shall succeed. As the stars draw our eyes toward our heavenly Father, so too American freedom sets the course for other nations.”
Hiester said then that the Camp Morgan base camp they had in Bosnia was not large -- it “isn’t much bigger than the high school parking  lot,’’ he wrote in that 2002 greeting.
Added was “Thank you again for the wonderful send-off and continued support. Your thoughts, prayers and letters mean so much to the men here in Bosnia. God Bless, and we will see you all soon.’’

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