Osan, local community remember Airman involved in recent fire rescue

  • Published
  • By Seventh Air Force Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea (AFNS) --  A memorial service to remember Staff Sgt. Cierra Rogers, a 731st Air Mobility Squadron Airman, took place here June 24.

Military and civilian members of the Osan Air Base and Pyeongtaek community gathered alongside the Airman’s family to honor Rogers, a 731st Air Mobility Squadron Airman, who died May 20.

“Let us remember her huge smile and her willingness to help others. While she was here, Cierra enjoyed life, and she truly lived life to the fullest,” said Lt. Col. Breanna Fulton, the 731st AMS commander.

While Rogers was known to her colleagues at Osan AB as a co-worker and friend, she was known in the South Korean community surrounding the base as a heroine who kicked out a window to help a local Nigerian family escape from a burning building April 29.

“Staff Sgt. Rogers’ honorable actions to help those in danger were a true example of what it means to serve,” said Lt. Gen. Lee Wang-Keon, the commander of South Korean air force operations command, who was present to offer condolences on behalf of South Korea’s President Park Geun-hye and Minister of Defense Han Min-koo. “We highly respect her courageous actions and will forever remember her noble sacrifice.”

Lt. Gen. Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the Seventh Air Force commander, met with Rogers’ family before the memorial ceremony to pay his respects.

“Today we celebrate the life of a friend, a daughter, a sister and an Airman who truly dedicated herself to serving others,” O’Shaughnessy said O’Shaughnessy. “Cierra traveled halfway around the world to help defend and protect the people of Korea. While she was here, like so many U.S. Airmen, she became integrated into a local community which has welcomed so many of us for more than 60 years. As a member of that community, when she had an opportunity to help people in mortal danger, she didn’t hesitate to act. She set a tremendous example of service before self, one that all Airmen can aspire to.”

Members of the Enyioko family, who Rogers helped rescue on April 29, also attended the ceremony along with representatives from the Embassy of Nigeria, Seoul.

The ceremony ended with a final roll call of Airmen assigned to the squadron, followed by the playing of taps.

Rogers was a native of Dallas. She enlisted in the Air Force in 2010 and spent five years at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, before serving a year at Osan AB. She died shortly after arriving at her follow-on duty station in Florida.