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Kabul honors Mainer in ceremony

 

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN — Military and civilian members of NATO’s Resolute Support assistance and training mission in Afghanistan participated in a memorial ceremony here Thursday honoring three slain DynCorp contractors, including Corey Dodge of Garland, Maine.

Dodge, Richard ‘Dick’ McEvoy and Barry Sutton were killed on Aug. 22 in Kabul when a car bomb exploded during a terrorist attack on their convoy.

 

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U.S. military photo by Lt. Kristine Volk

 

HONORING COREY DODGE — U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general of Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, speaks to coalition troops during a memorial on Sept. 9 in Kabul, Afghanistan, to honor Corey Dodge of Garland, Maine, and two other civilian contractors killed on Aug. 22 when a car bomb exploded during a terrorist attack on their convoy.Dodge, Richard McEvoy and Barry Sutton were civilian contractors from DynCorp International who served on the protection detail for the advisory team for the Afghan National Army and Afghan National Police under the NATO-led mission Resolute Support. The Destille Garden inside Resolute Support camp headquarters was packed Wednesday with those paying their respects including senior leaders from Resolute Support, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, the U.S. Embassy-Kabul and DynCorp.

 

Hundreds of Resolute Support personnel gathered Sept. 9 at Resolute Support camp headquarters in Kabul to pay tribute to the three men who were working in support of the Afghan National Army/Afghan National Police Advisor and Mentor Program. All three were veterans of the U.S. military.

 

“Everyone here knows deployment isn’t easy. There are long hours, a tough separation from loved ones and constant vigilance in dangerous conditions. Yet the hardest day is when we lose one of our own. And on Aug. 22, we lost three,” said Maj. Gen. Todd Semonite, commanding general, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. “Contractors, Department of Defense civilians, American and Coalition forces — we all work together here. It is one team; one fight. And to lose three dedicated members of this team has been truly devastating.”

 

Members of DynCorp leadership also flew into Kabul to participate in the ceremony.

“These men were true patriots. They dedicated their lives to service and were making a difference on behalf of their country,” said Lou Von Thaer, chief executive officer, DynCorp International. “Our thoughts and prayers are with their families, friends and colleagues during these difficult times.”

 McEvoy, Sutton and Dodge were honored individually by Richard Munsey, program manager, DynCorp, who spent extensive time with all three in Afghanistan. He highlighted their roles at DynCorp but focused on their personal accomplishments and the families the three men left behind.

Dodge, who was born in Dover-Foxcroft and graduated from Dexter Regional High School, had been working for the past nine years as a private security contractor with DynCorp, spending much of his time training Afghan police and security personnel.

He is survived by his parents, Ronnie and Letha Dodge of Dexter, his wife, Kelli Dodge of Garland, and their four children.

Hundreds of mourners filled the main auditorium for his funeral on Sept. 2 at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Exeter.

On Wednesday in Kabul , the memorial ceremony included a bugler playing Taps, a final salute to Dodge, McEvoy and Sutton, and their legacy in Afghanistan. Maj. Sean Wead, chaplain, honored the three men in a closing sermon.

 

“What sort of men sacrifice the comfort of home and family for those who are oppressed? What sort a men risk all to serve and protect in the name of justice?” asked Wead. “I’ll tell you what sort of men, men like Corey Dodge, men like Dick McEvoy; Men like Barry Sutton. Men of courage, men of dedication, and most of all, men of hope. These men embodied hope for other people as soldiers, police officers and DynCorp employees. They embodied a hope for a better Afghanistan.”

 

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U.S. military photo by Lt. Kristine Volk

IN MEMORY — Barry D. Sutton, 46, of Calhoun, Georgia (from left), Richard “Dick” McEvoy, 57, of Peachtree City, Georgia, and Corey J.Dodge, 40, of Garland, Maine, were honored during a memorial held for the civilian contractors on Sept. 9 at Resolute Support Headquarters in Kabul, Afghanistan. The three died on Aug. 22 when a car bomb exploded during a terrorist attack on their convoy.

 

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U.S. military photo by Lt. Kristine Volk

BOOK THAT REMEMBERS — A service member signs a memorial book for CoreyDodgeof Garland, Maine, after a memorial ceremony on Sept. 9 in Kabul, Afghanistan, honoring Dodge, Richard McEvoy and Barry Sutton, civilian contractors from DynCorp International, who died on Aug. 22 when a car bomb exploded during a terrorist attack on their convoy in Kabul.

 

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