DOB/DOD: March 1, 1970 (Southington, CT) – June 29, 2009; 39 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Married Vicki R. Kramer (1968-).
CHILDREN: Two daughters, Erica C. (1999-) and Megan E. (2001-).
ENLISTMENT: United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992 and then enlisted as an Infantryman in the North Carolina Army National Guard in 1994.
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 11B40; Infantryman
UNIT: Company A, 1st Battalion, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team; Whiteville, North Carolina
FAMILY: Born to Edward Mauser and Mary Ann Casey Kramer White (1949-). Eddy was adopted at 3 years old by Donald M. Kramer, Sr. (1951-). Stepmother, Sandy Kramer (-). Stepfather, Charles White (-). Two brothers, Burton (1971-) and Donald M., Jr. (1975-). Two sisters, BrenaLeAn (Kelly) Kramer (1973-) and Misty M. Carroll Durkee (1979-).
OTHER: From sister BrenaLeAn Kramer: Eddy planned to go into the Marines right after high school and succeeded. Our house, growing up, was a bit crazy. The majority of his younger years were spent living in Vermont. When I asked him why he chose to leave and serve in the military, he would always answer the same, “Better to have fighting happen overseas than on U.S. soil.” As I have gotten older, I can completely understand his words. Lately, politics has had us all thinking about the seriousness of war and fighting. He and I wrote letters when he enlisted and shipped out to Desert Storm. His whole vibe changed. He became more grounded, and what he experienced over there came out in the tone of his letters. His eyes reflected that as well once he came home. He changed with his marriage and the birth of his girls. I would go so far as to say it wasn’t just our family dynamics. I honestly feel it was a bit more of finding the Mayberry lifestyle of normalcy, running from our area to start a new, more normal life and not of war. But it always weighed on him, and he re-enlisted in the Army. He stayed away more then. Home life was chaotic, and he desperately searched to be more normal. Sadly, or maybe just being smart.
ADDITIONAL: Edward Kramer was a firefighter with the Seagate Fire Department, then the Camp Lejeune Fire Department, and then the City of Wilmington Fire Department. He had recently transferred to the Sunny Point Fire and Rescue.
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart Medal, U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal, U.S. Army Commendation Medal, U.S. Army Achievement Medal, North Carolina Meritorious Service Medal, Humanitarian Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal (Expeditionary), Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
CIRCUMSTANCES: Sergeant First Class Kramer died from wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle on June 29 in Baghdad, Iraq. Also killed in the incident:
Army Sergeant Roger L. Adams Jr.; Jacksonville, North Carolina
Army Sergeant Juan C. Baldeosingh; Newport, North Carolina
Army Specialist Robert L. Bittiker; Jacksonville, North Carolina
From The Staten Island (NY) on Advance July 3, 2009
When Edward C. Kramer wasn’t on duty as a soldier or a firefighter, he enjoyed curling his toes in the sand and casting a fishing line into the surf. “He was really outgoing,” said Ryan Young, who worked with Kramer at the Wilmington Fire Department. “He was one of those special people when he walked in a room, you felt like you knew him.” Kramer, 39, of Wilmington, North Carolina, died June 29 in Baghdad after an improvised explosive detonated near his vehicle. He was assigned to Wilmington. He worked at the Wilmington department for nine years before taking a firefighting job in Brunswick County. Kramer began his firefighting career at the Seagate Fire Department and also worked with the Camp Lejeune Fire Department. He leaves behind his wife, Vicki, and two daughters, Erica, 9, and Megan, 7. Kramer was a veteran of Desert Shield and Desert Storm in 1991. He joined the North Carolina Army National Guard in 1994 and served in Kuwait and Iraq from February 2004 to December 2004. When they weren’t fighting fires, Young said, he and Kramer would head for the coast. “He really enjoyed the fish and having his feet in the sand,” Young said.
From PortCityDaily.com on June 27, 2014
By Hilary Snow
Step Up for Soldiers to hold groundbreaking for new veteran housing
Tom Russell believes in helping those who are already working hard to better themselves.
To that end, Russell, founder and president of the local nonprofit Step Up for Soldiers, and a host of volunteer supporters, are gearing up to build a one-of-a-kind house for veterans to live in while pursuing their higher education.
Step Up for Soldiers will hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the new abode, named in honor of Sergeant First Class Edward Kramer, at noon this Sunday at the future site, 6060 Shiloh Drive, Wilmington.
Kramer, a North Carolina National Guard reservist and Sunny Point firefighter, was killed, along with three of his brothers in arms, by an improvised explosive device in 2009 while on patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. It was the North Carolina National Guard’s largest single combat loss since World War II.
Russell said the idea for the house emerged after Step Up for Soldiers received a plot of land in the Monkey Junction area.
With the help of architect Cory Thompson of CT Home Design, plans have already been drawn up for a 1,400-square-foot home. A host of area business owners have signed on to donate materials and their time to help get the Kramer House up.
“The house will be built along the lines of a Habitat for Humanity build–with hard work, sweat, and determination,” Russell said.
The transitional housing is aimed specifically at veterans with spouses and families to provide affordable housing while they are going back to school at either Cape Fear Community College or UNC-Wilmington.
“The idea is to get a married couple, make it a little bit easier for them while they attend full-time college,” Russell told Port City Radio morning host Aimee Bowen. “The idea is to just keep you working, keep you married, keep you advancing.”
Veterans living in the Kramer House will have to pay rent, Russell said, but it will be based on income.
“I think people should pay rent. I believe the more you work, the better you become. But this helps you get your education and get back in the real world,” he noted.
Upon leaving the home, couples will receive back a percentage of their paid rent. How much, Russell said, depends on how long they stay.
“The shorter the stay, the higher the percentage you get back,” he said.
A family that lives in the Kramer House for four years, for example, would receive half of the total rent paid over that time period.
“And we’ll give it back to you as a gift, so it is not taxed. It’ll just be money to help you start your new life,” Russell said.
A core of dedicated volunteers is handling construction work, and Russell has enlisted the help of approximately 15 general contractors, as well.
And, he added, the organization could always use some additional helping hands. “If you are a church group or a community group or a youth group, you can contact us, and if you want to come out for a day of work, we can always use your help every Saturday out there,” Russell said.
From DVIDShub.net on October 2, 2021
By Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Handley, North Carolina National Guard
North Carolina Army National Guard Dedicates New Readiness Center
Wilmington – Pleasant temperatures, bright sun, and a light breeze set the stage for the dedication and official opening of the North Carolina Army National Guard’s new Wilmington Readiness Center, the headquarters for the 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment. Located on the familiar grounds of the old facility, just outside the Wilmington International Airport, the pristine 57,000 square foot two-story building had waited for its ribbon cutting for just the right moment. Saturday, the timing, and the atmosphere could not have been better. With nearly two hundred fellow Soldiers, Firefighters, friends, family, and North Carolina National Guard leadership past and present in attendance, the backdrop of flags, firetrucks, and the occasional flight noise from the nearby airport, the mood was one part reunion, one part celebration with an undercurrent of sadness, like the missing of a best friend. The highlight of the afternoon was the unveiling of the official sign bearing the name of a North Carolina Army National Guard fallen Soldier, Sergeant First Class Edward C. Kramer. To properly honor Sergeant First Class Kramer, those who knew him best took to the podium. They led the audience through a collective reflection on the meaning, sacrifice, and the kind of man that Sergeant First Class Kramer was. Having served as his Company Commander during the 2004 deployment to Iraq, Colonel Wes Morrison, currently the commander of the 30th Armor Brigade Combat Team, said he had all the hallmarks of a great NCO. “He told you what he thought; he took care of his Soldiers, and he got the job done.”
Lieutenant Colonel Chris Padgett was Sergeant First Class Kramer’s commander in 2009, and his heartfelt comments spoke to the hurt, the healing, and who Sergeant First Class was to his Soldiers and him. He emphasized the statement that we will never forget the fallen and reminded everyone “That if we really mean never to forget, then we need to understand and remember the person. What a person did and not what happened to them.” He said Kramer was “Always willing to do more than his share.” With grace and composure, Mrs. Kramer shared how they met and what the National Guard and being a firefighter meant to Sergeant First Class Kramer, but also how, as a father, his caring and love for his family was central to who he was. “Being a Soldier was in his blood,” she said. According to Mrs. Kramer, when he reenlisted before the 2009 deployment, his soldiers were at the forefront of his mind. Mrs. Kramer said that he was the kind of man who “Always was thinking about others before himself.” She also thanked those friends who were there for him after his experiences from the 2004 deployment.
Sergeant First Class Kramer was killed in an improvised explosive device attack on June 29, 2009. Originally from Connecticut, he served in the United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992 and then enlisted as an infantryman in the North Carolina Army National Guard in 1994. Sergeant First Class Kramer served as squad leader and in other positions within the 1st Battalion 120th Infantry Regiment. In addition to his two deployments to Iraq, he also served the citizens of North Carolina during hurricanes Fran and Floyd in 1996 and 1999, respectively. When not serving with his fellow soldiers, Sergeant First Class Kramer was a professional firefighter, serving both with the Wilmington Fire Department and Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point.
The new readiness center, under construction for twenty-two months, is fully equipped with modern amenities for classroom training, operational planning, and the myriad of requirements for a battalion headquarters. Its impressive profile of solid block construction is not drab. The coated floors and solid doors give it a feeling of durability. All that strength is topped off with an open foyer featuring the 30th brigade patch and the battalion crest with lots of ambient light. The previous headquarters was over fifty years old when it was demolished, and with the looks of it, the new headquarters will be here twice as long. With his name and image prominent, Sergeant First Class Kramer, as he was in life, will continue to watch over the Soldiers and Officers of the 1st Battalion, 120th Infantry Regiment, North Carolina Army National Guard.
From AndrewsMortuary.com
My heart had been comforted by the loss of my mentor, leader, and friend. I served with Sergeant First Class Kramer in Wilmington, and my first memory was of SFC Kramer asking who the medic was. I was hesitant, thinking someone else would respond to his calling, but I was the only medic in the group. The rest of the soldiers were Infantry, and he put me in charge of leading the element. Having no experience in leading Infantry Soldiers, Sergeant First Class Kramer guided me through each drill. Throughout my time with the unit, Sergeant First Class Kramer became a person I admired, honored, and looked to for guidance. He is the first soldier that I knew from the beginning of my career to the end of his. My heart hurts daily, but I was privileged to know him, and I can still hear him saying, “Don’t worry about this, I’ve got it!” His dependability is something instilled within me that I will continue to carry on in my life. His example was honest and strong. It wasn’t ‘til I got back to the States after my injuries that I found out he, too, was a paramedic. General Patton said it well when he said, “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.” I thank God that Sergeant First Class Kramer lived and that I got to be a part of his life. My thoughts and prayers are with you all daily. Love y’all.
— Specialist Jason Scarborough; Somerville, Alabama
Sergeant First Class Kramer is buried in Wilmington National Cemetery, 2011 Market Street, Wilmington, North Carolina; Section 2, Site 2419.
