Nevada Army National Guard's Major General Ondra Berry addressed the attendees at the Guard's headquarters remembrance ceremony on Friday. (Photo: Ken Beaton)
Kenneth Curtzwiler knows the meaning of loss the of life as well as the importance of remembrance.
The retired Nevada Army National Guard major reflected Friday morning on the 10th anniversary of the Carson City IHOP shooting that resulted in five deaths and seven injuries. Five Nevada Guard soldiers had been planning observances for 9/11 when terrorists hijacked four passenger jets on Sept. 11, 2001, and crashed two in the World Trade Carter in New York City, the Pentagon, and in a field in western Pennsylvania.
Curtzwiler’s daughter, Sgt. 1st Class Miranda Summerwind McElhiney, was one of three soldiers who died on Sept. 6, 2011, along with Joint Forces Headquarters commander Lt. Col. Heath Kelly (then a major) and supply sergeant Master Sgt. Christian Riege. Florence Donovan-Gunderson of South Lake Tahoe was also killed in the shooting before the lone gunman took his own life. Seven others were injured including two Guardsmen, Sgt. 1st Class Jeremiah Mock and Sgt. Cait Kelley.
JFHQ in Carson City conducted a Remembrance Memorial Ceremony in the auditorium Friday. Curtzwiler, a resident of Meyers near South Lake Tahoe, said the shooting came out of the blue, out of left field.
“It was a rough time in this community,” said Curtzwiler, “and in order for us to move on, I ask that we don’t move on too quickly.”
Curtzwiler revealed he married McElhiney’s mother in 1980, but the couple separated, but years whizzed by without him seeing his daughter. Midway through his 20-year career, Curtzwiler said reported to the Plumb Lane Armory in Reno to take a physical before attending winter training at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center northwest of Bridgeport, Calif. The physical took on a coincidental twist when Curtzwiler began questioning the medical specialist about her mother. The soldier, it turned out, was his daughter, Miranda, who had enlisted in the Nevada Guard in 1988.
“We spent the next 10 years getting to know each other, and I was actually her commander at one time,” said Curtzwiler, adding not many people knew.
When he heard of the news of the IHOP shooting and what transpired, he expressed his shock.
“It was like a punch in the gut,” he recalled.
Curtzwiler, though, referred to the Army ethos of never leaving a fallen comrade behind. He cited how the Carson City community and the Nevada National Guard came together like family to deal with the tragedy.
Maj. Gen. Ondra Berry, the state’s adjutant general, said the loss of three soldiers 10 years ago equals the number of combat deaths the Nevada Army National Guard endured in Iraq and Afghanistan. He added the IHOP shooting was for a difficult day for the Nevada National Guard and emerged as a defining moment.
“I appreciate you have not forgotten to reflect and remember,” he said.
Lily Hansen, an outstanding high-school and university athlete, was born to McElhiney, a teenage mother who then put the baby up for adoption. Sept. 6, though, will forever be etched in Hansen’s mind. It was a carefree day for her until her adopted mother said they needed to talk.
“Miranda was shot, and she didn’t make it,” she said.
“All I wanted to do was run. I wanted to run. I wanted to fight,” the shocked Hansen recounted.
Brig. Gen. Michael Hanifan, the state’s assistant adjutant general, began to choke up at the beginning of his remarks. The Fallon native said he knew each soldier personally.
Hanifan also honored Donovan-Gunderson of South Lake Tahoe who was fatally shot. Her husband, Wally, was wounded.
“Please note you’re not alone remembering this day,” Hanifan said, referring to the families and Nevada Guard.
Riege, the supply sergeant for JFHQ, had spent 19 years in the military including two years in the Navy. He had been deployed both to Iraq and Afghanistan. The 38-year-old soldier grew up in Hawthorne and his grandfather had managed the Hawthorne Army Depot.
Kelly and Hanifan each attended a military college. Heath graduated from Norwich University in Northfield, Vt., and Hanifan received his degree from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
“He had a deep love for the United States,” Hanifan said.
Both Riege and Kelly died at the scene of the shooting, but McElhiney died hours later at a local hospital from her wounds. Wounded by the gunman’s bullet, Hanifan said she called 911 after the gunman took his own life to report the shooting. The other wounded soldiers, Hanifan pointed out, provided first aid.
“They are truly American heroes,” he said.
Hanifan said it’s important not to forget the day of the IHOP shooting. A memorial run from the restaurant to the Nevada Army National Guard state headquarters on Fairview Drive began the following year and former Gov. Brian Sandoval later began running the course. Hanifan said the Carson City Sheriff’s Office provide traffic control to keep the runners and walkers safe.
“Coming to the run is biggest thing I have done,” Hansen said.
Chaplain Maj. Todd Brown referenced a line from Psalm 23, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil:” He said it’s a somber line that makes people reflect on life’s dark part.
“We have a role and responsibility. We need to walk,” he said. “Whatever the world throws at us, it’s our responsibility to walk.”
Brown said every time he puts on a uniform, he never forgets that day when three of his comrades died. The memory is constant.
“Walking through the Valley of Death is hard but necessary,” he said.
