Fallen Soldier: Michael T. Hiester

Army Master Sergeant Michael T. Hiester, 33, of Bluffton, Ind. was assigned to the 76th Infantry Brigade (Separate), Indiana Army National Guard, Indianapolis, Ind. He was killed March 26, 2005, when his military vehicle struck a land mine in central Afghanistan.

MSGT Hiester was a full-time Active Guard Reserve soldier. He was the Operations and Intelligence Sergeant for the Bluffton unit in the Indiana National Guard. Training of Afghan troops had been the primary mission of MSGT Hiester’s unit.

MSGT Hiester served as a platoon leader for 3rd Platoon, E-238th Cavalry during the six-month peacekeeping duty in Bosnia. While there, he wrote “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. Every freedom we have shines there, sandwiched between crimson lines of sacrifice.’’

He is survived by his wife, Dawn.