SPC Roger Bahrman

Bahrman is originally from Skandia, Mich.

Bahrman was in­volved in handling the remains of 105 casualties, including 14 children, while deployed to Afghan­istan from December 2008 to December 2009. The cook was assigned to 3rd Bri­gade Combat Team’s mortuary affairs team during that year because his cooking skills weren’t needed at Forward Operating Base Shank.

His superiors say Bahrman often volunteered to handle remains of children so that fellow soldiers with children would not have to suffer the emotional trauma.

“I always thought to myself that it’s better me doing the job than one of my fellow soldiers who wouldn’t be able to take on the burden of sending soldiers or even local nationals back to their families,” Bahrman told Army Times.

“He stared the absolute worst part of war in the face countless times,” said Maj. Andrew DeKever, his officer in charge during the deployment. “Whenever we received word that someone had been killed and was being brought to us for processing, I would always find Specialist Bahrman at the MA tent, volunteering his services even when he wasn’t scheduled to be on shift.”

Not only did Bahrman master “the technical aspects of being a 29M, he rose to the occasion as a leader in the eyes of the other members of his team, in addition to sacrificing himself routinely to protect other members of the team from the emotional scars of this field,” DeKever said.