Local 405 Member Killed in Action

Sergeant Paul W. Fisher

Sgt. Paul W. Fisher, a 10-year member of IBEW Local 405, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, died November 6 of injuries suffered four days earlier when his helicopter was hit by a missile west of Baghdad. He was the flight engineer on a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, serving with Company F, 106th Aviation Unit of the Iowa Army National Guard. He died in a hospital in Germany.

More than 650 people attended his memorial service November 15 at the hall of Local 405, which has five other members serving in Iraq and a sixth newly called up. Paul was 39 and is survived by his wife Karen and a stepson, Jason. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

"You would never hear Paul complain, no matter how rotten the job he was on," says Local 405 Business Representative Glen Henry, a friend since high school. "I always thought of him as the most satisfied person I ever knew." His friends have created the Paul Fisher Memorial Fund, c/o IBEW Local 405, 1121 Wiley Blvd S.W., Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52404.

Local 405 member Vladimir Kazberouk says he had to hang his banner on a captured Iraqi tank because his unit's own Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles are all out on the outer perimeter of the camp, poised for instant action as needed.

Vladimir Kazberouk, one of the other five Local 405 members in Iraq, keeps his local informed with e-mails from the front-including the photo here of his display of the Local 405 banner. He says he's "sorry I didn't have the banner when I visited Saddam's Presidential Palace. The banner would look cool on the palace wall or behind Saddam's throne."

The four other Local 405 brothers already in Iraq are Stan Ambrose, Bill Brown, Brad Dolly and Jon Formanek. Allan Gerard is the most recent to be called to active duty.

Thanks for All Your Support

If you're in the Army and the only electrician around, you'll have 160 folks coming at you with tasks and requests-even in a war zone in Iraq, where "we spend our days dodging IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) and small arms fire and our nights dodging mortars and mosquitoes," says Asbury, Park, New Jersey, Local 400 apprentice Spc. Kevin R. Seitz.

Brother Seitz, 37, began his IBEW apprenticeship in 1998. He's the company electrician for his tour in Iraq and is appalled at that "standards do not exist here or even codes. It's amazing the Iraqis can light a single bulb, let alone an entire city."

Kevin is so appreciative of the encouragement he receives that he took time for a handwritten letter to the IBEW Journal "to thank all my IBEW brothers and sisters for their support. Keep up the support, we'll need it over here." And needing encouragement may be an understatement for Kevin, who was told his unit, the 253rd Transport Company, would be home for Christmas 2003, only to have that departure date set back to at least April 1, 2004.

IBEW in Afghanistan

Charles Duff of Local 380, Norristown, Pennsylvania, poses proudly on his job in Afghanistan.

Local 380, Norristown, Pennsylvania, member Charles "Chuck" Duff changed his occupation from electrician to soldier for his stint is in Afghanistan-but nine Georgians are there as electricians, working for an Atlanta contractor as part of the badly needed reconstruction in a nation that has basically been at war for 25 years.

Brother Duff was a member of the Army Reserve with the 179th Engineer attachment and Local 380 has several others overseas: Gerry Pettine is also in Afghanistan, apprentice Steve Vandura finished a tour of duty in Qatar and Clayton Hauser is-well, no one knows because he wasn't allowed to tell.

The Georgia contingent of civilians at work in Afghanistan includes six members of Atlanta Local 613, two from Local 1316, Macon, and Ken Dowdy of Local 84, Atlanta. The Local 613 members are Ray Tschakert, Steve Edge, Larry Buice, Sid Lloyd, Barry Wood and Fred Carr and the two from Local 1316 are Doug Combus and Eric Conkell. They are employed by Inglett & Stubbs Electric Contractors, one of Atlanta's largest.

From left to right behind the Local 613 banner are Ray Tschakert, Ken Dowdy, Steve Edge, Larry Buice, Capt. Wayne Gallagher, Sid Lloyd, Doug Combus, Eric Conkell, Barry Wood, Fred Carr and Terry Sinyard of Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 72.

"Families of these patriots should also know that soldiers in Afghanistan are especially grateful for the fantastic work executed by the Inglett & Stubbs team," said Capt. Wayne Gallagher. At the time Local 613 received Capt. Gallagher's message, the team was repairing a power grid and completing the electrical component of multiple new construction projects as they emerged.