Sgt. Eric Williams, 27, of Murrieta, Calif., was in-transit from his duty station in Ghazni Province, Afghanistan to the United States after serving a one year deployment, when he was killed by enemy fire on July 23, 2012. Sgt. Williams was a flight medic with the All American Dustoff Team, assigned to Company C, 3-82 General Support Aviation Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Williams is a local hero, who grew up in Murrieta, California. He graduated from Murrieta Valley High School in 2002. While he was in high school, he was a member, and president, of the Fire Explores with the Murrieta Fire Department. He earned his EMT certification at Mt. San Jacinto College in the fall of 2002, and immediately began working with American Medical Response as an EMT. He completed his Fire Science classes at Mt. San Jacinto College, and graduated the Fire Academy through Riverside Community College in 2004. Williams entered the U.S. Army in 2007, completing basic training at Fort Benning, Ga. He completed advance individual training at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, earning military occupational specialty 68W, Healthcare Specialist, later that year. He was stationed in Germany in 2008, and later deployed for a year in Iraq, as a Combat Medic. Returning to the United States after his deployment, he worked as an emergency room medic at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He earned his flight medic certification in 2011, and was subsequently deployed to Afghanistan later that year.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Air Medal, the Army Commendation Medal with Valor and one bronze oak leaf cluster, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one Campaign Star, the Iraq Campaign Medal with two Campaign Stars, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal, the Combat Medical Badge, and the Combat Action Badge.
To learn more about Eric's experiences, thoughts, and deployments, please visit his blog.
Sgt. Eric (DOC) Williams
