Funeral Arrangements for CDR Duane Wolfe USNR

From the Lompoc Record - A memorial service for Navy Cmdr. Duane G. Wolfe will take place at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Camp San Luis Obispo’s Perlee Theater, officials announced Saturday.

The 54-year-old Los Osos resident, who worked 24 years as a civilian employee at Vandenberg Air Force Base, died in Iraq on May 25. Vandenberg’s 30th Mission Support Group deputy commander was in Iraq as a member of the Naval Reserves.

A graveside service at Los Osos Valley Memorial Park will immediately follow the memorial.
Officials reportedly are expecting up to 600 people for the service, and Vandenberg’s 30th

Mission Support Group will send at least two buses of airmen to the service, according to Lt. Raymond Geoffroy, a Vandenberg spokesman.

“We’re working out the logistics of it,” he added Saturday afternoon.

Wolfe, a 32-year Los Osos resident who deployed from Port Hueneme in Ventura County, was assigned to the Army Corps of Engineers’ Gulf Region Division in Iraq when his vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device.

He died during a trip to visit construction projects, including a water treatment plant, in the Fallujah area, military officials said. Wolfe led a team that oversaw nearly $300 million in planned and ongoing construction projects, many of which are providing essential services to the Iraqi people, the military said.


“My family would like to thank the local community for their thoughts and prayers during this tragic time in our life,” said his wife, Cindi Wolfe. “It is amazing to see how many lives my husband touched on a daily basis.”

Wolfe began his military career with the Navy in 1972 and served on active duty for five years. In 1978, he joined the Navy Reserves and served until his death. His rank of commander is the equivalent of lieutenant colonel in the Air Force.

He began working at Vandenberg in 1985 as a civil engineer, and later joined the environmental division. In 2005, he became the 30th Mission Support Group’s deputy group commander.

He arrived in Iraq in December for the six-month assignment.On Thursday in Iraq, his colleagues there held a memorial service to honor Wolfe and two others killed by the roadside bomb.

Military officials said Wolfe will posthumously receive the Bronze Star with "V" Device for Valor; Purple Heart; Navy Combat Action Ribbon; National Defense Service Medal with Service Star; Iraqi Campaign Medal; and others.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations to be made to Parents Helping Parents Family Resource Center, two lending libraries with books, videos and audio tapes on a wide variety of parenting and special needs topics. The San Luis Obispo organization can be reached at 549-8148.
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Related posts are -
Godspeed CDr Wolfe
and
CDR Wolfe Remembered By Family & Colleagues in Iraq
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I didn't use the title of the actual article of the Lompoc record article because I felt it was inappropriate to characterize CDR Wolfe as a "victim".