A message from the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Matt Burden:

It seems fitting that we begin the Warrior Legacy Foundation on Memorial Day to honor the sacrifice of so many.  But there is one who sacrificed all that led me to the point where David Bellavia, Jim Hanson, Steve Russell, John Wagner and I decided to form this foundation.  Another Memorial Day is part of our history:

Memorial Day is like any other day when you're in an army at war.

On Memorial Day in 2003, at approximately 7:00AM, Major Mathew E. Schram was leading a re-supply convoy in Western Iraq near the Syrian border. Major Schram was the Support Operations Officer for the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, a unit out of Ft. Carson, Colorado. He had responsibility for organizing the regiment’s logistical arm - ensuring that the Cavalrymen never ran out of food, fuel or ammo.

Normally, Major Schram would not accompany the convoys as his responsibilities kept him at the main re-supply point. However, due to the problems with attacks on supply convoys, he decided to lead this one. He also decided that there was a side benefit to the ride - he would be able to talk with the field commanders and troops that he supported. Major Schram wanted to make sure that his "customers" were happy. Anyone who knew Mat Schram knew that he was obsessive-compulsive about making sure "his soldiers" were taken care of...that's why he was one of the top logistical officers in the US Army.

The convoy was headed north from Al Asad Airbase - Forward Operating Base (FOB) Webster along Route 12 to FOB Jenna. After delivering supplies at Jenna, the convoy would continue on to Al Qaim where the 1st/3rd Armored Cavalry was based.

At 7:15AM, Major Schram's convoy approached a wide ravine where the bridge had been destroyed during the invasion. The convoy had to go down the embankment, into the ravine, and back up the other side to get back onto the highway.

Once the lead vehicle started up the far bank of the ravine, the convoy came under intense fire from Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), machine guns, and small arms fire. It was an ambush. Thirteen Iraqi insurgents had been waiting by the ravine.

An RPG hit the lead tanker vehicle, disabling it in the kill zone. It was a perfect ambush set up. If the insurgents could knock out the first and last vehicles, then the entire convoy would be stuck in the kill zone. Bullets flew from insurgents on both sides of the ravine. The insurgent grenadiers were trying to concentrate fire on the last American vehicle to bottle up Major Schram's convoy in the ravine. The attackers would then be able to kill the Americans at will.

Major Schram ordered his driver, Specialist Chris Van Dyke, to accelerate from their position in the convoy into the insurgents' positions. Major Schram sent a message to Headquarters for help and began returning fire out of the Humvee. The Iraqi grenadiers recognized the threat and shifted their fire from the rear truck to Schram's Humvee, HQ-12.

Multiple grenades exploded at the front and rear of HQ-12. Specialist Van Dyke was blown out of the vehicle. Once he stopped rolling on the ground, he got up and ran back to HQ-12. He got back in and drove the Humvee out of the kill zone.
When he turned to get orders from Major Schram, Van Dyke realized that his Major had been killed. Even though he wore body armor, two 7.62-millimeter rounds had gone through Schram’s armpit (where there is no body armor coverage) and struck his heart, killing him instantly.  But Major Mat Schram had accomplished what he set out to do:  he broke up the ambush.

The Iraqi insurgents had fled after they fired their grenades at HQ-12, which was heading for them at full throttle.

I was at my desk at work on Tuesday, June 3rd. The phone rang.

It was John, a friend of mine and Mat Schram. We had all served together in the Army years ago and had stayed in touch. He told me to sit down. He told me that Mat had been killed in Iraq.

After composing myself, we finished our conversation and I promised to see John's wife, Patti, at Mat’s funeral. John had to be at Special Operations Command and couldn't make it.

I shut the door to my office, sat back down at my desk and wept.

At the funeral, Mat's family displayed his last letters and emails that he sent. Not surprisingly, all were strong, positive messages.  Mat believed in what he was doing – freeing Iraq from Saddam Hussein.

Major Schram's convoy had been followed by a car transporting a reporter. Once the action began, the reporter and his driver turned and got the hell out of there. If it weren’t for Mat's charge up into the ambushers, they never would have made it out of there alive.

The reporter never wrote a story about my good friend, Mat, the man who saved his life. 

That wasn’t news.

It took a few weeks to figure out what to do with the story that I knew – the news that I felt should be out there.  On June 18th, I started, “Blackfive”, a blog that would end up reaching millions of people and helping thousands of vets.  It has been a privilege and an honor for us, but still we needed to do more.

And now, we are starting a foundation to secure the legacy of men like Mat Schram

So, today, on the anniversary of the sacrifice of my friend, please take a moment to pray for the families who have lost their loved ones in the service of our country. 

Join us in defending their honor.

Mat would have liked that.