DOB/DOD: August 21, 1962 (Southington, CT) – November 23, 2003; 41 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
Local address: Smith Street; New Britain
ENLISTMENT: February 9, 1981
Military Occupational Specialty: 11Z50; Infantry Senior Sergeant
UNIT: Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division; Fort Drum, New York
FAMILY: Born to Walter R. (1922-1985) and Germaine Deschaine Albert (1924-2014). The youngest of eight siblings. Four sisters, Nancy Albert Rama (1944-), Rinette Albert Pelletier (1946-), Judy J. Albert LeBel (1947-2017), and Joan Vallee-Caron (1956-). Three brothers, Camille W. (1949-2010), Donald (1951-), and Richard (1960-).
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Bronze Star Medal with device, Purple Heart Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Bronze Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Service Ribbon, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, and Parachutist Badge.
CIRCUMSTANCES: A veteran of the Gulf War in 1991, Sergeant Major Albert was on his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, taking part in Operation Mountain Resolve. He was on board an MH-53M Pave Low helicopter conducting combat operations when it crashed nine miles east of Bagram Air Base. A compressor problem caused one of the two engines on the Pave Low to stall, leaving it with one engine operating and too much weight to carry in the thin mountain air. The pilots attempted to jettison the auxiliary tanks without success, and then the other engine stalled while an emergency landing was being attempted. With all power lost, the helicopter fell from an altitude of about 200 feet onto an uneven river bank, rolled over, and burst into flames. Eight people survived the crash. Others killed in the same incident:
Air Force MajorSteven Plumhoff; Neshanic Station, New Jersey
Air Force Staff Sergeant Thomas A. Walkup, Jr.; Millville, New Jersey
Air Force Technical Sergeant Howard A. Walters, Port Huron, Michigan
Air Force Technical Sergeant William J. Kerwood; Houston, Missouri
From FallenHeroesMemorial.org
“SGM Albert was, and still is, the epitome of dedication and greatness. I served under SGM Albert with the 2/87. I remember clearly the first time I met SGM Albert… Or should I say RAN with SGM Albert? I remember thinking, “Wow, this guy is no joke.” SGM Albert could run a camel to the point of dehydration! Those of you who have been on his runs, you know what I am talking about. Initially, I did not understand SGM Albert. He just seemed to be this tough SGM that told you what needed to be done… The more time I spent around SGM Albert, I realized that he only desired to bring out the very best in each and every one of us; as people as well as soldiers. For those of us who had taken the time to understand SGM Albert, he became a father figure to us… SGM Albert was always there to prepare us and give us guidance. He was and still remains a soldier’s soldier. In fact, he was one of the very few people in such a respectable leadership role to sit down and eat chow with us, just like “one of the guys.” I remember the morning Kolo, a few other guys, SGM Albert, and I walked down to the chow hall in Bagram for some breakfast… We all sat and enjoyed each other’s company just hours before SGM Albert departed for Nangalam, Afghanistan. I should have been on one of the two flights that departed that day, but I had injured my eye during a previous mission. I remember wanting to leave with SGM Albert, figuring that I would get my eye examined at a later time, but SGM Albert insisted that I stay back and get my eye examined. I feel we can say that SGM Albert saved many lives in his lifetime. Whether he was giving us advice, training that allowed us to survive a situation, or pulling us out of a burning MH-53 helicopter… SGM Albert saved many lives. Almost ten years later, I am still in disbelief. To me and many others, SGM Albert was one of those soldiers who seemed untouchable… I like to believe that this is still true and that God just needed a very brave angel… SGM Albert, thank you for teaching me that no task is too great and no goal is too far. I truly miss you, and I feel comfort in knowing that when my time on this earth has come to an end, you will be there on the other side, waiting to guide us again. I know that Scott, Cook, Staff Sergeant Clemons, and the rest of our Fallen Heroes are in good hands. I will see you again, SGM Albert… But not yet… Not yet!”
— Davis of New York, New York
“Hey, SGM, it’s Craig. You know, SGM, I think I took that .50 cal. in the gut and kept moving like you always spoke to us about. Your idea that there is a direct correlation between how physically (and equally mentally when your wits come about) prepared you are and having a higher chance that you may survive an injury of great magnitude and escape the battlefield. Though I still feel lucky that I escaped with the scratch I limped away with compared to you. A broken sternum after being struck by a crap heavy generator, all not before you shielded a young lady from a barrage of death. Death jostled free by an intense and twisted impact that occurred by the report, at 75 mph, against a 3-foot dirt and rock berm. Man, SGM what the $&@!? I was probably the rest of us thought, thought I was dead! When I came to and reacquired any semblance of my wits, all I smelled was fuel, and I started sounding off, “Get the $&@! off the bird!” I also further injured Gilliam (the interrogator) because I hadn’t realized there was a steep drop off to the right of her as the helicopter was laying vertically on a berm, and I sent her fumbling on her way down it, heading out the back of the bird. I noticed to my left, which led further into the aircraft, that there was another soldier in the tangled mess. He was wedged in there where the path thins to lead into the gunner’s compartment. When I moved over to try to extricate this soldier, he was so ensnared in the mass of metal and twisted rod that I could not remove him. I began to start screaming for help at the top of my lungs. When I spun around to look for help, I spotted the rear gunner at the bottom of the steep grade at the tail. He must have just gained conciseness. He got up, saw he was alive, and beat feet only to be unceremoniously Acme cartoon style laid on his back at least twice before realizing the wire harness to his helmet was tangled in a stray 7.62 round belt still attached to the bird. It is strange, but that lightened the mood a bit. You would have laughed your as$ off, SGM. So, there I was, alone with the man who seemed more to me integrated into the beast we rolled in on than a man. I kept attempting to extract him, pulling every corner, pulling his legs, being the only thing that was out of the wreckage to be leveraged. I remember peering through the wreckage to the gunner’s compartment because I could hear faint moans that turned into outright screams for help. I had a thought about Aggie, but I was sure he was fine, as he was. Sorry should have said that first. Around that time, small arms rounds started cooking off from the fire. That is about the time I started thinking the big boy fireworks that we packed in tight would start going off, too! The fire was no more pleasant as it slowly crept through the compartments. I stayed with him as long as I could… or I think that is the only thing I can tell myself without going crazy with guilt for having to leave him. As SPC Nagel stated on this page, he would have died with that soldier trying to save him before leaving him. So, all I can do is wonder and dissect over and over. And all I can hope is that I was not a coward. I guess, SGM, you’re the only one that I have to face and answer to when I come to visit you at the gates of Valhalla. Hopefully, I am admitted through them by merit of a warrior’s death as you have been. Dining with gods. There are men and, rarely, gods among those men; SGM, you are the latter. Well, as you already know, SGM that once I got off that helo and your stocky refrigerator-shaped as$ wasn’t telling me to pull my head out of my butt, I realized…that the soldier I left behind…was you. But don’t worry, I didn’t fall to pieces just yet. After I left you, I managed to cut down from the floor, which was now the ceiling, a hanging and burning soldier by the name of Staff Sergeant Jonathan Purser. I ended up needing a large amount of water to douse the raging flames on this poor guy’s BDUs, and how convenient that there was a giant river 5 feet from the tail rotor aft section, wherever the actual rotor was, who knows. So, I tossed him in the river, quite comically, I should add, then my fuel-covered ass was hopping in right after him because now I believed I was on fire as well. Once my neck hit that water, and I looked up while underwater and noticed my neck was free-floating, that was about the time I fell to pieces. I felt every shred of adrenaline I was surviving on up to that point drain from my body. I realized my neck was fubar! When I finally got out of the water, guess who came around the corner to save the day, Aggie! With the concussed co-pilot in tow, he was bleeding from the head and in a daze that could be surmised as if he was a baby visiting the outside for the very first time. Aggie took over with the egress, and we all lived happily ever after. SGM Albert, I hope this report helps clear up any confusion about the incident. And I can’t wait to hear your critiques and wisdom that can help me get through the next bump in the road of my life; oh wait, SGM, you already have. RIP SGM Phillip R. Albert”
From The Hartford Courant on November 27, 2003
PLYMOUTH — Flags here were lowered to half-staff Wednesday on word of the death in Afghanistan of a man who left town 23 years ago at age 18 to join the military. Sergeant Major Phillip R. Albert, 41, of Terryville, was killed in a helicopter crash on November 23 in Afghanistan. Albert was on an MH-63 helicopter that crashed during a combat operation, killing five soldiers and injuring eight others. Pentagon officials told The Associated Press that the crash may have been caused by engine failure, not enemy fire. The chopper went down as it left Bagram Air Base to support a special military operation by the U.S.-led coalition in northeastern Afghanistan. The incident is under investigation. Albert, a veteran of the 1991 Persian Gulf War, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 10th Mountain Division, based in Fort Drum, New York. His brother, Richard Albert of Bristol, said Albert loved the Army but had been talking about retirement. “He had a good sense of humor,” his brother said. He was adventurous. He liked to do a lot of different things. He liked to travel, liked to hunt, liked to fish.” Albert was not married. He last visited the Plymouth area in the spring. His mother, three brothers, and four sisters all still live in the area.
Memorialized on the 10th Mountain Division Heroes Walk Memorial, Operation Enduring Freedom IV, 10th Mountain Division Drive north of South Riva Ridge Loop, Fort Drum, New York
Memorialized on the 3rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team Memorial, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), 10th Mountain Division Drive north of South Riva Ridge Loop, Fort Drum, New York
Five of the servicemen killed in the crash are included in the group burial of co-mingled remains. The ceremony for the group burial was held on January 21, 2004, in Arlington National Cemetery, 1 Memorial Avenue, Arlington, Virginia; Section 60, Site 8121.
The remains of Sergeant Major Albert are buried in St. Joseph Cemetery, 552 Terryville Avenue, Bristol, Connecticut; Section 26, Plot 378, Grave 2. The cemetery added, “SGM Albert was never moved to Arlington. What remained of his body was interred here.”
