Tribute to my fellow soldier in "deuce four" 1/24 Inf regt. 25th Inf Div. SFC Matthew Pionk is seen here based on a photo from our 2004-2005 deployment, as those of us who served with him will remember, ALWAYS with a dip in. From training, to deployment, he was always our "acting" platoon sergeant. He was at this time a Staff Sergeant, which technically is not the proper rank for a line platoon sergeant, so occasionally our unit would come up with an E-7. But we all knew somehow he was going to be our platoon daddy on deployment, and he was such a good leader. We did have a proper PSG, SFC Viau who was a good leader for a time but was seriously wounded in a mortar attack, and once again Matt Pionk took his natural place as Platoon Sergeant. He was the type of leader that took his mission seriously, to train us up to be combat ready and manage day to day stuff within the platoon. Pionk would never throw a soldier under a bus to look good to the higher ups, he had zero pretense and made sure everyone was squared away. Rest in Peace.
his obituary
