The true toll of a Stryker rollover in Iraq earlier this month was two lives ended, but countless others impacted.

Staff Sgt. Todd W. Selge and Sgt. Jordan M. Shay died in the accident on Sept. 3. Selge leaves behind a widow and two sons; Shay, a fiancée whom he planned to marry when he returned from Iraq next year.

And the death shook many members of Fort Lewis’ 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, which avoided losing any of its soldiers through the first month of its yearlong deployment to Iraq. Many of them gathered Thursday afternoon at the Main Post Chapel on Fort Lewis for a memorial ceremony honoring the lives of Selge and Shay.

“I feel the world is a little bit darker today with the passing of Staff Sgt. Selge and Sgt. Shay,” said Lt. Michael Baliles, in whose platoon Shay and Selge served for 18 months before they deployed. “However, when I think of what they did, who they were and how they lived, I am honored and privileged that I had time to spend in their presence.”

The soldiers, members of the brigade’s 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, served at Forward Operating Base Warhorse outside Baqouba. Selge and Shay’s unit was conducting night operations when their Stryker rolled and fell off a bridge, according to several published reports.

The deaths were the first for the brigade, which lost 48 soldiers died on its first Iraq deployment and 20 on its second. This time, though, a major drop in violence across Iraq and a lower level of American participation in combat operations means the troops should face less danger.

Maj. Matthew Holly, the battalion operations officer, told The News Tribune earlier this week the battalion has come under two attacks in the past 30 days.

“Last time we were here,” he said, “we’d be attacked five times just in the morning.”

Shay and Selge deployed with 3rd Brigade in 2006-07, when the unit spent much of its time trying to calm Diyala province, when the insurgency there was at its fiercest.

Selge, a 25-year-old Minnesotan, was shot twice by enemy fire in Baqouba in 2007. He spent three months recovering at Fort Lewis and volunteered to rejoin his unit in Iraq to finish the deployment.

“We have lost brothers and friends and mentors,” chaplain Capt. David Curlin said. “I am so sad a generation of soldiers will not grow up under the strong, wise hand of these men. Character and confidence are an all-true-rare commodity in our service. The loss of these two men is a loss indeed.”

Curlin then quoted Gen. George S. Patton: “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died,” he said. “Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

Staff Sgt. Todd W. Selge
Selge, 25, of Burnville, Minn., spent his last few days in the United States working for his soldiers. Many were having problems ending their apartment leases ahead of their deployment, and he was working to get them a waiver that would allow them to break the contract without penalty.

Most soldiers, Lt. Michael Baliles said, would have been trying to relax and spend time with family. But Baliles said that’s just the kind of guy Selge was.

“In the past few days, I’ve heard Staff Sgt. Selge referred to as a superman by some and a father figure by others,” company commander Capt. Joel Ellison said in a speech to his troops in Iraq, which Baliles read Thursday. “All these are true.”

Selge, a squad leader, loved to debate – whether the topic veered towards politics, religion or conspiracy theories, his colleagues remember. He was also a tireless worker.

“From wakeup to sundown, he was always trying to accomplish something,” said Spc. Jonathan Williams, reading a statement on behalf of one of Selge’s squadmates still serving in Iraq.

Selge is survived by his wife, Dellona, and his sons, Dallas and Austin.

Sgt. Jordan M. Shay
Shay, 22, of Amesbury, Mass., stood out as a unique character even amid the usual variety of personalities in an Army unit.

He carried around a tattered Boston Red Sox hat whenever he traveled. He was on the receiving end – and made a few jokes himself – of losing much of his hair in his early 20s. Shay liked to spend time outdoors hiking, climbing and sailing.

He was also a big Jimmy Buffett fan, and the laid-back attitude Parrothead lifestyle had a calming affect on others, friends remembered.

“He was the kind of guy everyone wanted to be friends with,” Williams said. “He was just so laid-back and took life one day at a time. He was one of those people everyone wanted to be around all the time.”

Shay was buried Sept. 12. in Amesbury. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick and Sen. John Kerry were at the funeral for Shay, the first war death from Amesbury since the Vietnam War, according to the Boston Globe.

He is survived by his mother, Holly, and his fiancée, Kelsey Chandonnet.