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Hamden soldier killed in Afghanistan
"Our state and country have lost a brave soldier and a family has lost a brave son who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our freedom," Governor M. Jodi Rell said. Sklaver, who grew up in Hamden where he and his family attended Congregation Mishkan Israel, was a graduate of Foote School, Hamden High School and Tufts University, While studying at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where he received his Masters degree in International Relations, he joined the U.S. Army ROTC. He was commissioned as an officer in the Army Reserves upon his graduation in 2003. When not on active duty, he worked in the Office of Emergency Health and Refugee Relief at the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, Ga. He traveled to Africa on many occasions to assist with hunger relief operations. Immediately prior to his deployment to Afghanistan, he took a position at the Federal Emergency Management Agency in New York, working on disaster planning. On a previous tour of duty, Sklaver was stationed in Northern Uganda where he assisted the local population in their fight against the Lord's Resistance Army. While there, he worked on water projects to provide safe drinking water to the local village populations. Impressed by the impact these projects had on the lives of rural Ugandans, he was inspired to found the ClearWater Initiative, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing clean water to populations in areas affected by natural or man-made humanitarian emergencies. ClearWater has provided clean, sustainable drinking water to more than 6,500 people since 2007; within 10 years the organization expects to provide clean water to 250,000 people in need. Among the letters posted on the organization's website was one from an Ugandan village thanking the man they called "Moses Ben" for providing their people with a clean water supply. "He was so affected by how much you could do with so little money, he was like, 'Why don't we start something:'" his friend Jake Herrle said. "It started real grassroots with friends and family, and he built it up."
"Judaism teaches us to repair the world, and that's one thing he was attempting to do," said Sklaver who lives in Hamden with his wife Laura. The couple are prominent members of the Hamden and New Haven Jewish communities. "[Judaism] also teaches us that good deeds are what define a person, not what they say, but what they do, and that's a precept he followed very strongly." Devastated by their loss, his family hoped their son's untimely death would inspire others to think of American soldiers fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. "I would like, in whatever small way possible, for this incident to raise awareness of the sacrifice that all of our soldiers and their families are making in order to protect all of us here at home," said Gary Sklaver. "I would encourage everyone to do all they can to send packages and letters of support to our soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and that we reach out to help comfort the families of these soldiers in our communities." In addition to his father, Benjamin Sklaver is survived by his mother, Laura Sklaver of Hamden; his sister Anna Sklaver of New York City, N.Y.; his brother Samuel Sklaver and his wife Wendi of Brooklyn, N.Y.; his grandmother Viola Sklaver of North Branford; his nephew and godson, Redmond Sklaver; as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins. He is also survived by his fiancée, Beth Segaloff, whom he planned to marry on his return from Afghanistan in June 2010, and her son Danny. He was predeceased by his grandparents, Joseph Sklaver of Waterbury, and Archie and Zelma Mintz of Middlebury. Memorial contributions may be made to ClearWater Initiative Corp. at www.clearwaterinitiative.org. Special to the Ledger |
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1LT Geoff Terman wrote on Oct 20, 2009 7:37 AM:
1LT Geoff Terman "