Benjamin Brian Wise

Ben was an Army Special Forces Medic assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. He was critically injured on January 9, 2012 during an attack by insurgents in the Balkh Province, Afghanistan. He passed into eternity on January 15, 2012.
The assignment in Afghanistan was part of Wise’s fourth deployment overseas, and was in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
Upon completion of Basic Combat Training, Advanced Individual Training and the Basic Airborne Course at Fort Benning, Ga., in 2001, he was assigned to the 520th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division at Joint Base Lewis- McChord where he deployed to Iraq as a member of the Battalion Scout Platoon from 2003-2004. In 2005, Wise volunteered for the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course and was selected to continue training as medical sergeant in the Special Forces Qualification Course.
After graduating from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2008, Wise was assigned to 3rd Bn, 1st SFG A. During his time with the unit, he deployed once to Iraq and twice to Afghanistan.
Wise’s military education included the Warrior Leader’s Course, the Advanced Leader’s Course, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape SERE Course, the Recon and Surveillance Leadership Course and the Basic Airborne Course.
Wise’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the NATO Medal, the Army Commendation Medal 3rd Award, the Army Good Conduct Medal 3rd award, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal with three campaign stars, the Afghan Campaign Medal with two campaign stars, the Global War on Terror Service Medal, the Overseas Service Ribbon 2nd award, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon with Numeral 2, the Army Service Ribbon, the Special Forces Tab, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge and the Parachutist Badge.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal, according to the DOD.
A 1995 graduate of West Side Christian High School in El Dorado, Wise entered military service in 2000.
He was the son of Dr. Jean and Mary Wise, of Patmos, and is survived by his wife, Traci, and sons, Luke and Ryan, and daughter, Kailen.
Ben also has an older brother, Jeremy, who served honorably as a Navy SEAL, and was killed protecting an CIA outpost in Afghanistan, in 2009 as a civilian contractor. Ben’s younger brother Matthew “Beau” Wise is still active in the US Marine Corps. We all salute them and their family for their service and sacrifice to the United States of America. We owe them a great debt of gratitude, and have established the Wise Family Benefit Fund and Hotline as a token of our American appreciation and to facilitate supporting and encouraging them.