Remembering SPC Wershow: A Brother in Arms
At Squatch Survival Gear, we don’t just talk about service—we lived it. And like many veterans, I carry with me a long list of names. Not names on gear orders. Not customers. Friends. Brothers. People I served with who never came home.
The first on that list for me is PFC Wershow.
He was a PFC when I knew him. He was a tall Jewish kid from Florida—sharp, thoughtful, and part of my first platoon, 3rd Platoon, Charlie Company, 82nd Airborne. We connected quickly. I had a degree in American politics with minors in history and military history, and Wershow loved to talk about politics, too. He leaned more left than I did—I was and still am a strict constitutionalist—but we’d go back and forth for hours. The kind of debates that sharpened ideas, not egos.
His time in active service was coming to a close just before the towers fell. He asked me how he could pay for college. I told him about the Army National Guard and the Simultaneous Membership Program—a way to serve in the Guard, join ROTC, and use the GI Bill to pay for college. It worked for a lot of people. It made sense. He got out.
And I never heard from him again.
I moved on to Delta Company, 1/505th. Then to HHC Company. Then eventually to the 18th Airborne Corps G3. I had just returned from Afghanistan in 2003 when we got the call—from my old battalion commander:
Specialist Wershow was KIA in Iraq. A sniper.
He didn’t have to stay in the Guard. But he chose to continue serving. That’s what I admired most. His willingness. His call to something bigger than himself.
I don’t regret the advice I gave him—it was honest. But I live with the guilt. Because that conversation still echoes in my head.
Memorial Day isn’t just a date. It isn’t just flags or a sale. It’s a moment to say names like his out loud so they don’t die a second death—the one that happens when people stop talking about you.
So take a minute. Remember PFC Wershow. Keep his spirit alive.
And if you wonder why veterans get angry when someone like “The Boz” gets rich trashing the country that gave them the freedom to speak… this is why. Because while they mock what they never had the courage to defend, men like Wershow gave everything for that same freedom.
This Memorial Day, we remember.
If you’re new to Squatch Survival Gear, know this: every stitch of gear we make is about more than adventure. It’s about honoring people like PFC Wershow. It’s about carrying the weight, with respect, because they carried it first.
— Veteran Owned. American Made. Built with Purpose.