Posted by Dan Perkins on April 5, 2024:

I happened across some old paperwork just last week and found an old duty roster with Lance Motley's name on it, that I'd kept from my time in HHC, 2nd Brigade, 9th ID, Ft. Lewis WA. It was the 1983-1984 timeframe, and that was when I met Cpt. Lance Motley. We worked in the S-3 Operations department together, I was a an E-4 at the time, the S-3 Radio Operator (O5B) and also the company draftsman, due to training I had before enlisting. Lance immediatly made an impression on me. He was as intense as everyone has described him, and he also had a profound desire to make sure everyone around him was as highly trained as possible so they would survive a war. We trained in the Yakama Desert a few times together, and he was known to get up in the middle of the night, put on his ruck, and hike 5-6 miles in the dark just to be at a particular place at daybreak so he could watch an air-mobile exercise, or to scout out the opfor unit we were training against. I drove him one night, under strict blackout conditions, and we almost went over a bluff, but he still wouldn't let me turn on the headlights. He caught, cooked and ate a field mouse one other night, offering me a bite, which I took because those experiences just didn't come along every day. I was usually on night radio shift in the command tent, and Lance was usually there with me, listening to me communicate and taking notes on what units were where. We'd talk about our past and what we wanted our future's to be. He told me one night he wanted to sell everything and go south to central America. I ended up buying his Bianchi road bike that he would ride to the post on, and I took it with me to West Germany where I rode it for 3 years, always thinking of the miles he'd put on it. One fond memory was when our unit went to Hokkaido Japan in the fall-winter of 1983 to train with the JGSDF. We were at a big banquet thrown by the hosts, and they put on a show with karate fighters. Lance was excited, grabbed me by the arm, and asked if I wanted to help him show how a US soldier threw someone around. I'd had a few beers, so sure, let's go! We did a basic infantry throw, where I rushed him, he leaned back away from the rush and jumped up, putting both feet into my stomach, then rolled back and onto the ground, flipping me over his head and onto my back, while he rolled over me and ended up sitting on my chest. It was a thing of beauty, and the Japaneese soldiers went wild! Lance popped up off me, and helped me up, gave me a handshake and said great job, Dan! I could only smile and nod, I couldn't catch my breath because he'd cracked two of my ribs. LOL. I was saddened to hear that he had died, but not surprised how it happened. He was a true Warrior. RIP Brother.

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