DOB/DOD: February 9, 1966 (New Haven, CT) – August 12, 2003; 37 years old
MARITAL STATUS: Unmarried
LOCAL ADDRESS: Paddock Lane, Guilford
ENLISTMENT: 1985; 13 years active and 5 years Reserves
MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY: 97B; Counterintelligence Agent
UNIT: USAR [U.S. Army Reserves] Units: B Company, 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion; Fort Meade, Maryland (7/1998-8/2003) and HHC, 126 USAR, East Windsor, CT (1/1991-12/1992)
Active Duty Units: HHC, 3rd MI BN, Seoul, South Korea 1/1986-4/1986); 209th MI BN, Camp Humphries and Camp Red Cloud, South Korea (4/86-3/87); Fort George Meade and Fort Huachuca (1997-1988); Joint Task Force Bravo, Honduras, and Panama (1989); Fort Hood, Texas (1990); C/102d MI BN, 2ID, Camps Hovey, Howze and Casey, South Korea (1/1992-1996); HHD, 501st MI BN, Yongsan, South Korea (4/1996-7/1997); HHC/524th MI BN S-2 CI section, South Korea, 8/1997-1998).
FAMILY: Born to Richard S. (1943-2005) and Sharon Noble Eaton (1944-). No siblings.
DECORATIONS: Awarded the Bronze Star Medal with oak leaf cluster, Army Commendation Medal with three devices, Army Achievement Medal with two devices, Army Good Conduct Medal with 3 devices, Army Reserve Component Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal with device, Global War on Terrorism Medal (Expeditionary), Global War on Terrorism Medal (Service), Korean Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with ‘M’ device, Army NCO Professional Development Ribbon with ‘2’ device, Army Service Ribbon, Army Overseas Ribbon with ‘5’ device, Meritorious Unit Commendation, Army Superior Unit Award, Intel Badge, Rifle Badge, Pistol Badge, Grenade Badge, and Intel Badge. Posthumous awards: Iraq Campaign Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal for Operation Just Cause in Panama, Connecticut Veterans Wartime Service Medal, and the Thomas Knowlton Award (Military Intelligence Corps Association). Memorial dedication and renaming of the John S. Mosby Army Reserve Center at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, on April 23, 2024, to the Staff Sergeant Richard S. Eaton Army Reserve Center, home of the 99th Readiness Reserve Division’s MIRC (Military Intelligence Readiness Command).
CIRCUMSTANCES: Staff Sergeant Eaton died in his sleep on August 12, 2003, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, from what was believed to be fluid in his lungs, possibly connected to heat and dehydration. Termed a “mystery death” in a 2003 news article, his August 18, 2003, DD Form 1300 [Report of Casualty] stated his cause of death was from “Illness: result of stroke.” His body arrived at the Dover AFB Mortuary with no blood available for an autopsy, and another deceased soldier’s records accompanied his body. The Dover autopsy report stated his death was caused by an “accident: heat-related.” His parents had difficulty accepting the autopsy’s conclusion as Rick was in good health, acclimated to the high heat in Iraq, and had received seven hours of medical treatment and IV bags after he collapsed at the Ar Ramadi gate while meeting with an informant. After treatment, he was sent to a barracks without the medical protocol of 24-hour observation and died. The prior day, he had been in a protracted firefight in Al Hit, Iraq. On May 23, 2007, Rick’s mother (Sharon Noble Eaton) met with President George W. Bush at Groton Airport after his address at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy. President Bush ordered extraordinary autopsy tests to be performed. One of those tests showed his urine myoglobin was <2670 mcg/L, indicating on a scale of 1 to 10 that it was 9.5 probable that exertional rhabdomyolysis was underway. Captain Craig Mallek, Chief Armed Forces Examiner System, and Colonel Paul Cordts visited Mrs. Eaton on August 17, 2007. Dr. Mallek believed that Rick had undetected rhabdomyolysis but could not state this on the addendum to Rick’s autopsy report. The standard for autopsy confirmation requires a decedent’s blood sample. He did, however, add to a list of accomplishments during his command of the Dover AFB Mortuary the following: (1) blood sample preservation in hot climates and (2) autopsies in the theatre of war.
OTHER: In Iraq, Rick served as a 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion HUMINT [Human Intelligence] team leader assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry’s S-2 section in Al Anbar province. He had been accepted by a South Korean Reserve Unit but received the 323rd deployment order while working as a contractor in a security position at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. He chose to deploy with the 323rd from South Korea and, in his words, was “only two days late” in arriving at Fort Dix, New Jersey, after receiving the forwarded order via his Alexandria, Virginia landlady and his parents a week or so before.
Author of three army counterintelligence manuals: Tactical HUMINT, HUMINT Team Leader, and HUMINT Team Member. While serving in the Army Reserves, he worked as a Washington, DC area contractor for Sytex, Inc. in creating the CHATS computer system first used in 2003 in Iraq; BAE Systems as a researcher in G-2 for a major revision of Army counterintelligence policy and procedures; INSCOM [U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command]; Premier Technologies, Inc. providing the U.S. Air Force security at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
Rick was a co-founder/moderator with James R. Lint, an Army counterintelligence special agent of the ACID-G (Army Counterintelligence Discussion Group) on the Internet. It was a great success that brought CI soldiers from around the world to one forum. The ACID-G has now evolved into the Army Counterintelligence Special Agent Association (ACISAA).
From TheFallen.MilitaryTimes.com
GUILFORD, Connecticut — A Connecticut soldier who died in Iraq this week is being remembered as a natural leader who knew at an early age that he wanted a career in the military. Army Staff Sergeant Richard S. Eaton Jr., 37, a counterintelligence officer, died in his sleep on August 12, his father, Richard S. Eaton, said the following day. “He loved the military. He loved this country, and this was his life and, in many respects, his identity,” the elder Eaton said. The family has few details about the death, he said, and they do not know whether he died from a strain of pneumonia that has killed other servicemen. Major Bill Adams, the region’s casualty assistance officer, said the cause of death remains under investigation but is thought to be a pulmonary edema. His death came nearly two years after a hijacked airplane crashed into his office at the Pentagon in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. He was not working at the Pentagon at the time because his office was being renovated, his father said. The elder Eaton, a spokesman for the University of New Haven, said his son was working for the Department of Defense as a civilian at the time of the terrorist attacks. Eaton was in the Army Reserves and deployed to Iraq in March with the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, said his mother, Sharon Noble Eaton. Eaton, who went by the nickname “Rick,” was not married and had no siblings. “Thirty-seven years with Rick is the glass half-full,” his mother said. “He was one hell of an interesting kid. It was like having 10 kids.” Eaton grew up listening to stories about family members who served in the armed forces. A portrait of Civil War General Amos Eaton, with a stern face and bushy beard, hangs over the family fireplace along with his Civil War sword. Another ancestor was William Eaton, who helped to reinstate the deposed leader of Tripoli and rescue American captives in the early 1800s. The story of William Eaton is being made into a movie called “Tripoli” starring Russell Crowe. The elder Eaton said he had looked forward to seeing it with his son. “I was thinking of writing to the movie people and asking if they would invite my son to the premiere since he spent his life admiring his ancestor,” the elder Eaton said. Both of Eaton’s grandfathers were veterans who loved to tell the boy stories of their service. One was in the Cavalry in World War I; the other was a pilot in World War II. From a young age, Eaton was a leader among his peers, his parents recalled. A preschool teacher once wrote that the boy was very bright but was inclined to be bossy with his classmates. At age 6, when the family hired an artist to cut a paper silhouette of the boy, he insisted on wearing a World War II field cap. Eaton’s teenage friends called him “GI Joe,” his father said. As a high school student, Eaton had his heart set on joining the Army, but he took a car trip to more than a dozen college campuses to please his parents and talked about majoring in botany or engineering. After the trip, his father told him he had to make his own decision. The young man went to the local recruiting office and brought a recruiter home to meet his parents. “He said, ‘He’s old enough to enlist himself at 18, but he really wants your approval,”’ the elder Eaton said. “Then he explained that they could give him the best work that the military had to offer.” The younger Eaton was offered a place at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, but declined because he believed “real soldiering” was done in the field, his father said. He spent 10 years in South Korea and had appointments in Honduras, Panama, and El Salvador. Trained to be secretive about the details of his work, the younger Eaton was not someone who talked about his accomplishments, his father said. He never wore his uniform at home and never displayed his awards, the elder Eaton said. “The person we know and the military person are, in a way, two different people because the requirements of the job were such that people didn’t know what he did,” he said. Eaton’s mother said he was a history buff who loved to read and played soccer. He coached a children’s soccer team while stationed in Honduras, the family said. Eaton “epitomized the American tradition of the citizen-soldier,” Governor John G. Rowland said in a written statement. Rowland ordered all state flags lowered to half-staff through sundown on the day of Eaton’s interment. Funeral arrangements have not been determined. Guilford First Selectman Carl A. Balestracci, a retired teacher, said he taught American history to the younger Eaton. The first selectman said Guilford, on the Connecticut coast near New Haven, is “standing by as a community.” We will do what the family would like us to do,” Balestracci said. “The VFW and the American Legion are standing by.” State Sen. William Aniskovich, R-Branford, has known the Eaton family for many years. The elder Eaton held the Senate seat between 1984 and 1986. “He was a young man who was dedicated to his country,” Aniskovich said. “He was always gung-ho about his participation in the Army and very serious and committed to what he was doing.”
From TheFallen.MilitaryTimes.com
Guilford soldier who died in Iraq laid to rest
GUILFORD, Connecticut — More than 300 people gathered at the First Congressional Church in Army Staff Sergeant Richard S. Eaton Jr.’s hometown on August 23 to remember the career soldier who died in Iraq. Eaton, 37, died in his sleep of an illness believed to be a pulmonary embolism. The counterintelligence officer had been deployed to the Middle East since March. Eaton, who came from a long line of military men, was awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat. It was presented to Eaton’s parents, Richard S. Eaton and Sharon Noble Eaton, on Saturday at Grove Street Cemetery in New Haven. Eaton was in the Army Reserves and deployed to Iraq with the Fort Meade, Maryland-based 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion. Earlier in his career, he served in Honduras, South Korea, Panama, and El Salvador. His godparents, Terry and Joan Ferguson, of Bloomington, Ind., said it was no surprise to family and friends that Eaton chose a military career. “He was an ambitious, caring person,” Terry Ferguson said. “We’re really grateful; America is really grateful for his devotion.” Eaton was a contractor for the Department of Defense at the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. His usual office in the Pentagon was destroyed in the attacks; it was being remodeled at the time, and Eaton was working in an office outside the Pentagon. Major Kevin Cavanaugh, a chaplain with the Connecticut National Guard, praised Eaton’s patriotism and service. “His soldiering was an expression of his citizenship,” he said. “He believed in his country, and he believed in freedom.” About 400 people attended Eaton’s funeral, including state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, State Representative Richard Roy of Milford, and Lawrence DeNardis, president of the University of New Haven, where the elder Eaton is a spokesman.
From FallenHeroesMemorial.com
“I’ve known Rick since sometime in the 90s – I don’t know when he joined our unit – but I know he came to be a regular voice in my ear and a regular messenger of sanity and clarity in my email in 1999. We head out to Iraq again soon. I found this website as I’m looking for a good address or website link to our unit and am writing an email to my many friends to invite them to the big Mobilization Ceremony – complete with elected officials, big shots, media, children’s activities, and lunch. Rick would have hated that! And I can almost hear him mocking the planning and asking if there will be clowns for the circus! And I am laughing out loud, thinking of his sense of humor! He would have hated this because we serve in silence. If we are serving well, everything is quiet, and you won’t even know that we’ve been here. I’ve spent the last five years in silence and forcing myself not to remember all that has happened, but Rick comes to mind, and into my dreams sometimes, and he has been on my mind as we’ve prepared during these last few months, and the memories bubble up to the surface. As I pack my final bits here and dig through books, manuals, CDs, DVDs, and other resources to take along to keep me smart and out of jail, it will be Rick’s voice of reason, Rick’s questions, Rick’s throwing of the BS flag that will help to keep me on track. I like to think that I’ve learned from him and that I will be able to be that candid voice and maybe pass on that candor to some of these younger Soldiers who never knew him. I hope that our service now would make him proud. He is still missed.” — Warrant Officer 1 Montague
“Mr. and Mrs. Eaton, I had the pleasure of serving with Rick as a fellow intelligence soldier in Iraq. I returned to the States before his passing, so I will always remember him as a great person and a selfless soldier who always gave his all for our unit, the 3rd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment. He actively sought information from local Iraqis that would give us early warning of enemy threats against our people, our mission, and the rebuilding of Iraq. I personally observed him many times working until 2 a.m. to ensure that his collected intelligence would help as many people as possible in the quickest time. In the process, I am positive he saved the lives of many soldiers with early warnings of impending attacks. When his unit requested to transfer his team to another region of Iraq, he requested to remain with us. He gave his ultimate sacrifice. I personally thank him for his service and wanted to let you know that I witnessed firsthand the great person you can be very proud of. Brave Rifles!” — Captain Paul Kuettner
From Defense Visual Information April 23, 2024
Staff Sergeant Eaton is buried in Grove Street Cemetery, 227 Grove Street, New Haven, Connecticut; Section 27 Sylvan Avenue, East.
