A decorated Green Beret leapt from the second-story of his burning home early Tuesday, wrapped himself in a blanket and ran back inside in an attempt to save his two young daughters.
Firefighters recovered the body of Chief Warrant Officer Edward Cantrell on the second floor of his North Carolina home, not far from the remains of 6-year-old Isabella and 4-year-old Natalia…
Cantrell, 36, was a member of the 3rd Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. He held the rank of chief warrant officer 2, which authorized Cantrell to lead half of his 12-member Green Beret team if it was split up, said Lt. Col. April Olsen, a spokeswoman for Army Special Forces Command.
Records show Cantrell joined the Army in 1994, listing a home address in Plant City, Fla. He had one combat deployment to Iraq and five to Afghanistan, returning from the last mission in August, Olsen said.
His record included four Bronze Stars and one Purple Heart, awarded for wounds suffered in a war zone, Olsen said.
I saw that news article. CW2 Cantrell was pondering retirement, wishing to spend more time with his family. He was a hero many times, and to the end as well.
Prayers sent for the fallen warrior, his family and fellow Soldiers.
tragic. that’s all i can say. ed was a good friend of a friend who also ran with him in 3rd group. i ask that we send prayers for the surviving wife, Louise, that God may bring her an ounce of peace.
What a tragedy. Yesterday the little girl Angel from the tornado and now this. I hope their all together in a better place. Being a father of a beautiful 14 month old girl, I can’t imagine the fear he felt. In some ways, maybe he was lucky for not having to survive to see the death of his daughters. God Bless them all.
Respect. This is a particularly sad loss, but as Patton once put it, “we should thank God that such men lived.” Had Cantrell known in advance that he was going to meet his demise in a vain attempt to rescue his daughters, we all know that he would have gone anyway, rather than to stand in the street and wonder if he could somehow have made a difference.
The man died with extraordinary honor, and the tragedy nothwithstanding, there is surely nothing senseless about that.
