National Guard to rename Joplin armory to honor fallen Sergeant

Missouri National Guard’s Joplin Armory will be renamed, in memoriam, the ‘Sgt. Robert Wayne Crow Jr. Armory'.

A ceremony will be held on Saturday, April 2nd, at 3 p.m. The 203rd Engineer Battalion will host the ceremony at 2000 W. 32nd St., in Joplin.

42-year-old Sgt. Robert Wayne Crow, of Kansas City, was a member of the Missouri Army National Guard.

He was a well-respected Soldier who served two combat deployments with the 203rd Engineer Battalion. He was assigned to Route Clearance Patrol 48 (Blackjacks) with the 211th Engineer Company (Sapper) with the mission to conduct mobility and counter-mobility operations throughout Regional Command East in Afghanistan.

On July 10th, 2010, he died in Paktika, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his vehicle with an Improvised Explosive Device.

Sgt Crow's loved ones, former teammates, friends, and the Joplin community will attend the ceremony.

By changing the name of the Joplin Armory, the Missouri National Guard pays homage to Sgt. Crow's service, his strength of character, and his courageous actions in combat.

“It is important to honor those who paid the ultimate sacrifice as Citizen-Soldiers of Missouri. Sgt. Crow is an inspiration to those who served beside him, his family, and community. Renaming this building after this outstanding Soldier is our way of remembering him, which is the solemn promise of a grateful state and nation,” stated Maj. Gen. Levon Cumpton, Adjutant General, Missouri National Guard.

Below are two Associated Press articles from his death in 2010:

(AP) A 42-year-old Missouri guardsman has been killed in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device.

The Defense Department said Sgt. Robert Wayne Crow of Kansas City died July 10 at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, after his vehicle struck an IED in Paktika. He was a combat engineer with the 203rd Engineer Battalion, headquartered in Joplin.

The battalion was deployed in September, with a mission to clear IEDs from roadways.

Crow joined the Missouri Army National Guard in December 2005. He deployed to Iraq in 2007 with the Guard’s 35th Engineer Brigade, based at Fort Leonard Wood.

He is the battalion’s second casualty in Afghanistan. Sgt. Denis Kisseloff of St. Charles died May 14.

Even in grim setting, sergeant could provide comic relief

(AP) Among soldiers with a serious mission, Sgt. Robert Crow Jr. knew how to make colleagues grin.

“He was the comic relief of everything,” said Michelle Pippin, whose husband worked with Crow.

Crow, 42, of Kansas City, Mo., died July 10 at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, after his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in Paktika. He was assigned to the 203rd Engineer Battalion in Joplin, Mo., and had been deployed to Iraq.

The battalion’s commander, Lt. Col Anthony Adrian, said those who knew Crow loved him.

“He loved being a Husky operator because there he was in the best position to protect his platoon — he took this self-imposed responsibility very seriously,” Adrian said.

Crow, who went by his middle name, Wayne, was born in California and lived there until he moved to Kansas City in 2004. He joined the Missouri Army National Guard the next year.

He worked for Missouri Gas Energy and had been employed by Heartland Midwest.

Survivors include his father, Robert Wayne Crow Sr.; brother, Norman; sister, Brenda; wife, Beverly; six children; and 12 grandchildren, with the 13th due in the fall.