GIENAU, Richard "Brian", 2nd Lt. 1975-2005

GIENAU, WAY, ALLEN

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 1/21/2014 at 01:41:52

Army 2nd Lt. Richard Brian Gienau Aug. 21, 1975 to Feb. 27, 2005

[The Hawk Eye Newspaper, Thursday, March 10, 2005]

CEDAR FALLS — The world got a look Wednesday inside the full and love–rich life of 2nd Lt. R. Brian Gienau.

The young Iowa Army National Guard officer was buried with full military honors in Tripoli, the town where he attended high school, after a funeral here at Nazareth Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Gienau was a 29–year–old platoon leader in Company A of the 224th Engineer Battalion out of Burlington when he was killed Feb. 27 by a bomb on a road between Karbala and Ramadi, Iraq.

The explosion also claimed the life of Spc. Seth Garceau, 22, of Oelwein.

Three other Company A soldiers were wounded, including Spc. Justin Edgington, West Burlington. All were riding in the same Humvee that carried Gineau.

Memories of the lieutenant were as varied as the crowd filling much of the 1,500–seat sanctuary for his funeral. He was quiet and outgoing, fun–loving and serious, patriotic and irreverent.

"I often described him as full of piss and vinegar," wrote Cpt. Jason Wisehart, Gienau's company commander, in a statement read aloud. "That's kind of a military term for being a little bit ornery."

Wisehart recalled asking his baby–faced junior officer at various briefings what work he had been doing. Gienau would always answer, "Not a dang thing, just like you," then drop into the push–up position for his mock punishment.

Gienau was the son of Debbee Way of Dunkerton and Richard Gienau of Waterloo. He also left behind a girlfriend, Katie Allen, and a 9–year–old son, Keenan. His only sibling, a 14–year–old sister, Amanda, died in 1992 in a car accident.

The Rev. Robert Wallace read aloud the last letter Richard Gienau wrote to his son. It was a frank, heart–wrenching account of a father's alcoholism, but also of his pride and abiding love.

Richard Gienau promised to keep sending junk food. "You have a dentist over there?" he asked.

He called Brian "a man who can take care of (himself), not a lush like (his) dad, thank God." And he wrote about the comfort he took in simply thinking about his child, a young man "who likes to make people happy" and who could find the best in a tour in Iraq: "I think about things like my son being a lieutenant, being good–looking, (having) an all–around good personality."

Brian Gienau enlisted in the U.S. Navy fresh out of high school in 1994 and served four years as an avionics mechanic. Afterward, he headed to the University of Northern Iowa, entering a combined program for the Reserve Officer Training Corps and the Iowa National Guard. He graduated in 2003 and was commissioned as a lieutenant the following year.

Gienau lived for the past year in Peoria, Ill., where he was a computer specialist for Caterpillar.

Gienau's step–grandmother, Ruth Miller, called him a "peach of a kid," quiet and absolutely dedicated to the military.

"You know he was bright," Miller said prior to the funeral service, "because they pretty much had given him a job when he still had a year left in school."

Miller's husband, Leslie, said Gienau "gobbled" up his stories about fighting in France during World War II.

"We saw him at Christmas, and he said he was going to be on the plane New Year's Eve," Leslie Miller said. "He didn't break down at all. It was his duty."

Gienau came home from his officer basic course for just three days in October before mobilizing for Iraq.

"The engineers needed him, and he was there," said Lt. Col. Todd Jacobus, commander of the 224th Engineer Battalion, who also had a statement to be read at the funeral.

While the battalion was training at Fort Sill, Okla., last fall, Gienau remained positive, even when the weather was cold and rainy, Jacobus wrote.

In Iraq, Gienau worked for a time at a detainee facility on Forward Operating Base Duke. Jacobus wrote of his young lieutenant's confidence while briefing a four–star general about activities at the facility.

"Brian could be counted on to do the right thing," the lieutenant colonel said. "... (His) soldiers loved him. They would have followed him anywhere. They are taking his death very hard."

Jason Loving, of Mount Pleasant, was a 224th soldier for nine years and served briefly with Gienau.

"He was just an all–around good guy," Loving said outside the church. "He never had an enemy in the world and he'd do anything for you."

About 25 members of the Company A Family Readiness Group traveled to Cedar Falls. Christine Hoenig, whose husband, 1st Lt. Andy Hoenig, was among Gienau's close friends, said funerals can be painful for wives and parents who still have a loved one in Iraq.

"But a lot of them are here today representing (their soldiers)," said Hoenig, a Burlington resident.

Gienau was laid to rest in his dress greens and beret.

About a quarter of those at his funeral also were in uniform. The group included Maj. Gen. Ron Dardis, Adjutant General of the Iowa National Guard, and Col. Steven Bloomer, a former 224th commander and Burlington native.

The church sanctuary already had been decorated for Easter. Amid images of redemption and resurrection, the funeral ended with the military service members one at a time saluting the flag–draped coffin.

Gienau was a member of Prairie Lakes Church in Cedar Falls, a Baptist congregation. He and Allen taught kindergarten and first–grade Sunday school there before moving to Peoria.

The Rev. John Fuller, the Prairie Lakes pastor, delivered the message Wednesday. He recounted Gienau's last church service before deploying, when he brought the lieutenant down in front of the congregation and prayed for his safety.

"The last thing we did for Brian, we cheered for him," Fuller said. "Our whole church clapped. It was the last time we saw him."

Then, addressing the funeral assemblage, the pastor asked, "Can we do that now? Can we cheer for Brian right now?"

With that invitation, every person in the sanctuary rose and clapped for nearly a minute for 2nd Lt. Brian Gienau, dead at 29 to a bomb along a road in Iraq.

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[Fallen Heros Memorial]

Gienau died in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device hit his military vehicle. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 224th Engineer Battalion, Burlington, Iowa. Died on February 27, 2005.

Black Hawk Obituaries maintained by Karen De Groote.
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