FLINT, MI, USA U.S. Army MSG, COMPANY B, 3D BATTALION, 3D SPECIAL FORCES GROUP, (SOCCENT), FORT BRAGG, NC MOSUL, IRAQ 11/19/2005
Anthony R.C. Yost was born October 9th 1966 at Hurley hospital in Flint Michigan to Penny Thomas. In 1968 Penny married Donald Yost. Don quickly adopted Anthony and became the only father that he ever knew and loved, in fact he was his best man at his wedding to his first wife Rhonda. Don always told Anthony to be proud of his Indian heritage and to hold his head high because the Indians were the only true Americans.
Andy was a very serious child. It seemed as though He was always scoping out his perimeters. He was curious about everything and when he rode in the car or went to visit someone he checked everything out, always craning his little neck to get a good view of where he was. He loved the sound of sirens and whenever he seen a police car his eyes would light up and he would whisper “shhhhhhh cops comin”.
He loved motorcycles, toy guns and hotwheel cars and of course sunglasses. Two of his favorite activities were jumping homemade ramps on his bike and playing soldier. He also loved to be in his dad’s garage where the guys always worked on their motorcycles. Don remembers the day he painted his fenders and left for a while to let them dry. When he returned Andy, who was about 7, was spray painting the fenders on his bike with every color he could get his hands on. He wanted a cool bike just like his dad!
When he became a teenager his motto should have been” I can’t wait until tomorrow comes because I just get cooler everyday.”
He played basketball at Millington High School and was dubbed with the name “Chico” by the team. He got good grades and had many friends but like most teens he liked to party and had the typical issues that every kid growing up has.
His big passion was (as with most people here in Michigan) deer hunting and never missed a season or the chance to go to “deer camp” with his dad, uncles and cousins. Years later he would say that being in the army on missions was like “deer camp”, sitting around shooting the bull with the guys, he loved it.
Anthony Ray Charles Yost enlisted in the U.S. Army on May 6, 1987 and attended Basic and Advanced Individual Training at Fort Knox, Kentucky where he served as a tanker from 1987-1991. He then served a one year tour in Korea in the Air Defense Artillery field.
MSG Yost graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1993 and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Carson, Colorado as a SF weapons sergeant for 8 years, where he deployed to Kosovo in support of NATO peacekeeping operations. In addition to Korea and Kosovo he was also in Latvia, Germany, Turkey, Bosnia, Italy, Russia, Kazakhstan, Serbia Montenegro and probably some countries he could not mention.
MSG Anthony Yost was killed in action on November 19, 2005 while conducting combat operations to in Mosul, Iraq. When the news of our fallen hero first arrived reports said it was a car bomb and that Al Zarqawi was in the building but that report was later changed perhaps due to the fact that is was Spec Ops and they like to keep their business- their business. We may never know what evil was present in that building that day in Mosul but as someone recently said, “he would have done it ten times over”. He was a Special Forces soldier first and he gave his life for a cause he believed in.