Mortar Platoon, Headquarters & Headquarters Company, 1-37 Armor

Born: 9 Aug 1981 in Greensboro,  North Carolina

Killed in Action: 6 Dec 2006  (aged 25) in Ramadi, Iraq

Buried:  Guilford Memorial Park, Greensboro,  North Carolina

 

SGT Nicholas R. Gibbs of HHC/1-37 was killed in action defending Combat Outpost Sword in Ramadi, Iraq. Nick was on guard in a bunker atop Sword when he briefly exposed himself to investigate a threat. In that moment, he was struck by an Al Qaeda sniper’s bullet and he would later die while being treated at Camp Ramadi. Gibbs and his brothers in the battalion’s mortar platoon, Thunder, were my combat multi-tool. When we were up north near the Syrian border, they provided mortar fire to counter insurgent indirect fire on our positions. In Ramadi, Nick and his brothers fought as riflemen, providing the boots on the ground where they were they were needed in a vicious urban fight. They conducted ambushes and patrolled tirelessly wherever I needed to weight the fight. Through it all, Nick was a skilled warrior and leader, beloved in his platoon and beyond. His loss left a hole in our ranks and lives that remains to this day.