Maryland's Seventh Hero

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Army Command Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore I, 45, of Baltimore, Md.; assigned to the Judge Advocate General Office, Headquarters Department of the Army, Pentagon; killed in action when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter went down on Nov. 7 in Tikrit, Iraq.

HE WAS READY FOR ANYTHING

The last song Command Sgt. Maj. Cornell Gilmore sang to the congregation at a Fort Lewis chapel was “Lord, Send Me, I’ll Go.”

The hymn was a favorite of Gilmore’s that spoke of his commitment to God and country. It was appropriate because Gilmore, who directed the male chorus at Four Chaplains Memorial Chapel, and his family were leaving Lacey for Baltimore and a new military assignment at the Pentagon.

“He was ready for anything that could have happened,” said Michelle Greene, who attended the church.

“He was just down-to-earth,” said Greene’s husband, Jimmy, a sergeant first class at Fort Lewis. “Anyone could approach him. He was a soldier’s soldier. … He always had that smile. He was always in a good mood.”

“He was a dynamic leader, an inspirational leader,” said Jack Nevin, a Pierce County District Court judge and Army Reserve colonel who worked with Gilmore at Fort Lewis.

“He cared desperately about taking care of soldiers, not only soldiers in the JAG Corps, but the ability of JAG to take care of all military members,” Nevin said. “He died doing what he liked doing best, which was going out in field and meeting with our young soldiers.”

“He lived and died doing what he loved best — being with soldiers,” his wife, Donna Gilmore, said Monday.