Indiana Adjutant General Honors Fallen Indiana National Guardsmen

Personalized shadow box displays of seven fallen soldiers are unveiled to family members and friends during a remembrance ceremony at Valparaiso University.
Personalized shadow box displays of seven fallen soldiers are unveiled to family members and friends during a remembrance ceremony at Valparaiso University.

Shadow boxes in memory of seven Indiana National Guardsmen killed in combat are part of a permanent memorial to their sacrifices at the Indiana National Guard Valparaiso Armory. Each one contains items belonging to the soldiers from the 113 Engineer Battalion who were killed in January of 2012 when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in Afghanistan. Spc. Robert Tauteris of Hamlet was among those killed, along with Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Chavez, Sgt. Brian Leonhart of Merrillville, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Metzger, Spc. Christopher Patterson, Spc. Nicholas Taylor and Spc. Sergio Perez. Indiana Adjutant General Maj. Gen. R. Martin Umbarger unveiled the shadow boxes during a ceremony for the soldiers’ families yesterday at Valparaiso University.