Dear Kathy,

My name is Greg Cooper.  I want to offer you and the entire Redd family my heartfelt condolences for the loss of a wonderful brother and friend. 

I believe we met at the memorial service a few weeks ago.    I also attended the viewing for Steve the next week and after some encouragement from Roger I picked up one of the recorders and began talking.  My intent was to honor Steve’s memory and provide some personal accounts with Steve for the family.  I fell way short on that task and I would like to add some thoughts that I wish I had put together that evening with the recorder in hand.

First, I want you to know that I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to Steve for his actions on the night of 31 May, 2008.  Steve and I had known each other for about a year at this point, but not very well.  That night though, I found out what was at the core of Steve Redd.  Gary Linfoot and I were lucky enough to have survived a crash, but we were both broken and I was “loopy” from a concussion as well.  Steve and his co-pilot, Jerry Blackwell, landed next to us and Steve got out and rushed to the scene.  I only have a few very fuzzy memories from that night but one of them was Steve standing over me, checking me for injuries and assuring me that he would take care of us and get us out.  He did just that.  He secured the crash site, radioed back to Jerry who was back over head coordinating a rescue effort, and maintained control of the situation when help arrived.  Steve saw me safely off the crash site and stayed behind to make sure Gary was safely extracted.  When the Air Force rescue team arrived and attempted to pull Gary out of the cockpit (which would have aggravated his already severe injury to his back), Steve got in the middle of it and in typical Ranger Redd fashion, he made an “on the spot” correction, (safe to assume he used some explicatives I’ll call “Steveisms”) and told, not suggested, told the Air Force PJs what to do.  As usual, Steve was right and people listened.  After the cockpit was cut apart to allow Gary’s extraction, Steve made sure he was safely boarded on the helicopter.  Once Gary was off the crash site Steve and Jerry climbed back into their helicopter and returned to base.  Steve would accompany Gary and me all the way back to the States, taking care of anything and everything that needed attention during the trip.  There is a special bond that forms between two people when they share a traumatic event and it happened with Steve and me.  Lying on the ground next to our broken helicopter, conscious enough only to realize how helpless Gary and I were, Steve showed up and I knew I was o.k.  Your brother was a true hero.

Since then, I’ve been with Steve during some good times like goofing off during our down time at Virginia Beach and some bad times like his split with she who shall not be named.  I can only imagine how difficult this was for Steve but he did his best to keep a smile on his face and keep moving forward.  He did this through multiple overseas deployments and progression to Fully Mission Qualified in the company, which a significant emotional event in its own rite.  I came to admire Steve’s ability to handle the pressures that life had thrown at him.  I don’t believe I could have pulled it off.  He was a rock, always there to lend a hand and never asking for one.

2010 saw Steve and me on two deployments together.  The first was pretty benign and we got a lot of gym time in.  Well, Steve did, I tended to sleep more than work out but Steve was dedicated to staying fit.  The second deployment was in September.  Two of the awards presented before the memorial were for events that took place during that trip.  Without going into great detail, I’ll say that a few of those nights on that trip were some of the most exciting I’ve ever had.  Steve faced those nights filled with enemy rounds like he faced everything, leaning forward headed straight to the sound of the guns.  He was by far one of the bravest men I’ve ever known. 

I will always remember Steve as the barrel-chested Ranger Six Gun who was confident and skilled at his job.  However, I’ll also remember that he was the kind of friend I’d like to be and a father who loved his kids more than life itself.  Steve will forever be missed.  Please pass on to your parents a heartfelt thank you for raising such a wonderful person and that you all are in our thoughts.  If there is anything that you or your family needs, please do not hesitate to contact me.

 

 Sincerely,

Greg Cooper