10/10/2026
Say his name! Alway honor and remember SPC David A. Hess 🇺🇸
16 Years Since We Lost Him — SPC David A. Hess
Tomorrow, October 10, 2026, marks 16 years since we lost SPC David A. Hess, United States Army.
David was born April 28, 1985, in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He was only 25 years old when he was killed on October 10, 2010, while serving in Afghanistan.
David was a Land Combat Electronic Missile System Repairer, assigned to Company D, 526th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.
While on patrol in Kabul, David was riding in the lead vehicle as his convoy crossed a bridge when a roadside bomb detonated, taking his life.
David had already seen what those bombs could do.
His sister Sarah remembered talking with her brother about seeing fellow soldiers hit by roadside bombs. She spoke with David by phone on her birthday, and the two would also talk over the computer once or twice a week.
"He was scared," Sarah said. "There was a roadside bomb and one of the guys in his platoon had been killed and he was scared."
Those words stay with you.
Because courage doesn't mean you aren't afraid.
Sometimes courage is knowing the danger is real—and going anyway.
David came home to West Virginia surrounded by people who understood the weight of his sacrifice. Michael McLain, Commandant of the Wood County Marine Corps League Detachment 1087, said at David's return ceremony:
"They brought a very special hero back home. He served his country. He gave the ultimate sacrifice for the country."
The Patriot Guard Riders escorted David's funeral procession from Lambert-Tatman Funeral Home to South Parkersburg Baptist Church.
Hundreds of riders were waiting when David arrived.
They stood together in a flag line.
A young West Virginian had come home.
And his state was there to receive him.
David left behind his wife, Diane Halle Hess, and their son, Bryor, in Florida. He was also survived by his mother, Kathy Dowler of Parkersburg, and his sisters, Christie Hess of Pomeroy, Ohio, and Sarah Hess of Oneonta, Alabama.
David's father, Jeff Hess of Sandyville, remained a part of David's story and carried the loss of his son for the rest of his life. Jeff passed away in 2025, fifteen years after David.
Today, both father and son are gone, but neither is forgotten.
David's story didn't end with his death.
In 2011, his sister Sarah joined the United States Army, serving with the 203rd Military Police Battalion, in honor of her brother.
There are some sacrifices that change an entire family.
David's family carried his memory forward.
And they still do.
David had a favorite quote:
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
He believed those words strongly enough to have them tattooed between his shoulders.
The Part We Sometimes Forget
Sixteen years have passed since David was taken from his family.
For those who knew and loved him, those years did not simply erase the pain. They became years of learning how to live around an absence that can never truly be filled.
His family carried on.
They celebrated birthdays and holidays. They watched children grow. They made new memories while still carrying the old ones.
And David's mother, Kathy, has carried the memory of her son through every one of those fifteen years.
That is the part of sacrifice we sometimes forget.
When a service member gives their life, the sacrifice does not end with them.
It continues through the people who loved them.
Their mothers carry it.
Their fathers carry it.
Their wives and husbands carry it.
Their children carry it.
Their brothers and sisters carry it.
And somehow, they keep going.
That is courage too.
Over the years, I have had the privilege of talking with Kathy about David. One thing has always been clear to me:
David was full of life.
He was someone's son, someone's brother, someone's husband, someone's father, and someone's friend.
He wasn't simply a soldier who died in Afghanistan.
He was David.
And that is how we should remember him.
Because these young men and women were never just names on a memorial or photographs on a wall.
They had personalities.
They had dreams.
They had fears.
They had favorite songs and favorite sayings.
They laughed.
They loved.
They irritated their families.
They made memories.
They lived.
And when they were taken from us, the people who loved them were left to carry those memories for the rest of their lives.
That is why we tell their stories.
Not to glorify war.
Not to dwell on how they died.
But to make sure the world remembers who they were.
Fifteen years have passed.
David was only 25.
His son grew older.
His family continued forward.
An entire generation has grown up that never had the opportunity to know him.
But time does not erase a life that mattered.
Today, we remember SPC David A. Hess.
We remember his service.
We remember his sacrifice.
We remember his family.
We remember his mother, Kathy.
We remember his father, Jeff.
And we remember the young man who was so full of life.
David A. Hess was somebody.
He mattered.
He still matters.
And 16 years later, we will not allow the passage of time to erase him.
We honor David.
We honor his family.
We honor all those who continue to carry the weight of a loss that never completely leaves them.
And always...
Say His Name.
SPC David A. Hess
United States Army
April 28, 1985 — October 10, 2010
25 Years Old
"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
🫡🇺🇸
