New Bremen, Ohio, USA
U.S. Army
Master Sergeant, 108TH FORWARD SUPPORT CO, Sussex,WI
Taji, Iraq, 05/22/2009
Sergeant First Class Brian K. Naseman was the son of Richard and Diane (Schmitmeyer) Naseman of New Bremen, Ohio. A 1990 graduate of New Bremen High School, he attended Wright State University and The Ohio State University pursuing a degree in Education.
Afterwards Brian began his 20-year career with the Army National Guard, originally serving with the Ohio Army National Guard, before transferring to the Wisconsin Army National Guard. At a barn dance in Ohio 13 years ago, he taught a young lady from Wisconsin named Peggy E. Chmielewski how to line dance. They became friends and traveled back and forth from Ohio to Wisconsin to see each other for three years before they married on March 20, 1999. They settled in Racine Wisconsin because Brian loved his wife’s family and friends so much, as they did him.
He worked as a laborer for Masonry Specialists and remained a full-time National Guard soldier in Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 257th Brigade Support Battalion, 157th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. He had previously deployed to Kuwait from November 2005 to November 2006 with the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry. In February of 2009, he was mobilized assigned to the 108th Forward Support Company, attached to 2nd Battalion, 127th Infantry, 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, based at Sussex, Wisconsin. He received training in Texas and Florida before being sent to Kuwait and then Iraq last month.
He died May 22 in Taji, Iraq of a non-combat related incident. He was buried at West Lawn Memorial Park in Racine, WI. Naseman lived in Racine with his wife of 10 years, Peggy, and sons Carter, 7, and Cole, 9.
The boys idolized their dad. They wanted to be just like him.
“They wanted to be career military just like their dad,” Peggy said. “They knew that what he was doing was a good cause.”
Now they’re angry, sad and confused, she said.
The last time their dad was deployed to Kuwait for a year, he returned home safely. The boys don’t understand why he won’t be coming home this time, why he won’t be back to coach little league.
Peggy said if there is anything the community might learn from her grief, it’s this: “Never take for granted the things that you have (and) every time you see a soldier, thank them for what they do, because they provide the freedom in your everyday world.”