10/3/2009

SSG Thomas D. “Tom” Rabjohn, was killed on 3 October 2009.  SSG Rabjohn was assigned to the 363^rd Ordnance Company (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 441^st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), 111^th Ordnance Group (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Arizona National Guard, and were attached to the 741^st Ordnance Battalion (Explosive Ordnance Disposal), Washington Army National Guard, 82^nd Airborne Division, Regional Command East, as part of Task Force Paladin.  SSG Rabjohn was killed while supporting 3^rd Brigade Combat Team, 10^th Mountain Division in Wardak Province, Afghanistan.  SSG Rabjohn’s team was assigned to a forward operating base supporting a field artillery unit.  The team responded to a request to assist the field artillery unit with trip wires that were arranged across a roadway.  SSG Rabjohn was working on a particularly nasty culvert improvised explosive device.  Attempts to use the robot and a hook/pulley line were unsuccessful.  SSG Rabjohn donned the bomb suit and disabled the devices he and his team had located.  He removed his suit to conduct a post blast assessment and located an additional explosive device.  SSG Rabjohn found a secondary device and was able to warn two of his team members who were able to create enough distance to survive the bomb blast that occurred seconds later.  SSG Rabjohn was killed immediately.  SSG Rabjohn received the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal posthumously. 

 All who knew Tom Rabjohn agree he was a man who cared deeply for his family, his community, and his country and wanted nothing more than to protect them all. He returned home from Afghanistan with the eight soldiers that were killed in the Taliban attack on U.S. forces October 3, 2009. Officer Rabjohn is survived by his wife, Nikki and daughters Kylee (14), Koree (13), Kelsee (12); parents Thomas and Patty; his sisters June and Nancy; and, his brother, Brian.

Additional Facts: Born: 19 February 1970, Sierra Vista, Arizona; Age: 39; Hometown: Litchfield Park, Arizona; Home Station: Coolidge, Arizona; Buried: National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, Plot: Section: 57, Site: 1049.

*This bio was researched and authored by SGM Mike R.Vining, USA (Retired). Please send any additional information and/or corrections to the author of this bio by email: sgmmvining@gmail.com. The EOD Wounded Warrior Foundation is not responsible for the accuracy of the information in bio.