SFC Robert Beal was known as Ed. He had a hard childhood and was later adopted by his grandparents. After they passed away he had no place to go and joined the United States Army. He fell in love with the Army and his country. It was no longer just a roof over his head - it was his life. 

He was an honest and extremely loving family man. He enjoyed having fun, traveling, and telling corny jokes. He often had water fights with his family in their house. 

He served 18 years and 4 deployments. When he was in the field for his 5th deployment, he found out he had cancer. He passed 18 months later. He was not bothered by cancer as much as not getting to deploy with his soldiers. Ed is very missed.