Anthes to be honored as Distinguished Member of the Regiment for historic 16th Infantry

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A decorated Missouri veteran is now being honored by the very company he had led, one that may be one of the most well-known in U.S. history.

Captain Erik J. Anthes is being named a Distinguished Member of the Regiment (DMOR) by the 16th Infantry Regiment, one of the units that famously made the landing on Omaha Beach in Normandy back on June 6, 1944, better known as D-Day.

DMORs are individuals who have served with the regiment who have distinguished themselves through their military service, civilian service, or other significant service rendered for the betterment of their community, state, or nation.

According to the 16th’s website, the designation is bestowed on individuals by the Secretary of the Army after a thorough vetting process by the Honorary Colonel of the Regiment (HCOR), the Honorary Sergeant Major of the Regiment (HSMOR), and the active duty battalion commander designated to administer regimental responsibilities.

Anthes’ own career in the military is a fascinating story.

He first decided to join the Army in order to help pay for college, which came after talking to his father, Erik Anthes, Sr. After graduating from the University of Central Missouri in 2007, he was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in the Army’s Transportation Corps.

He was assigned to the 1st Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the 3rd Infantry Division and deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, during the surge of troops into that country, where he was the distribution platoon leader.

“It was my first job, leading 54 people. You learn a lot about yourself and the people you serve with,” he said.

But after successfully serving his first tour, he returned to the states to serve in the first active duty National Disaster Response Brigade, before heading back to Iraq in 2009 as a member of the 1st Advise and Assist Brigade.

After that, he attended the Captains Career Course, and after completing that, he headed to Fort Riley, Kansas, where he eventually was selected to be company commander for the 16th, his primary objective to prepare the company for mission readiness after they had just returned from Afghanistan. His job was to help them rebuild, not just as a military unit, but as men with families, focused on their well-being and morale.

But as combat began to give way in Iraq and the U.S. sought to pull back troops, Anthes found himself once again in Baghdad. This time, he served in the Transportation Operations Office, developing the largest logistics mission of a brigade-sized element in military history. During that, he conducted several combat missions across Iraq, assessing bases that had been retaken from ISIS. He says it was probably one of the hardest jobs he’s ever done.

For his efforts, he earned a Bronze Star among other medals and commendations.

After returning to the U.S. from his third deployment in Iraq back in 2015, Anthes has become a devoted advocate in the Missouri, working for legislation to help Missouri veterans. One of the efforts he has championed is making educational opportunities more accessible to his fellow veterans and the families of fallen service members.

“A lot of the veterans education legislation that we have been able to get through is geared to young men and women who have leadership and life experience in the classrooms, and it needs to be a priority for our public universities,” he said. “I’m going to continue to fight to incentivize our veterans to come home and go to school in Missouri.”

His work with the Missouri Student Veterans Association is a role he finds very fulfilling, where he works with the state’s legislators and staff to try and better the lives of Missouri’s veterans.

“I want to make Missouri the place that veterans want to come home to when they hang up their uniforms and think of where they want to retire,” Anthes said.

He loves to serve, and perhaps one of the most telling signs of his dedication to the state was when he drove to Union, Mo. while still recovering from a surgery to help in the flood relief effort, still wearing the sling on his right arm. He said that, in those moments, all that mattered to him was finding a way to help those in need and being of service.

For Anthes, the DMOR is a great honor, not just to be recognized by the elite company, but  also because he was nominated by his own personal hero Ray Lambert, who made the landing himself 73 years ago. Lambert’s 96 years old, and has been awarded three silver stars, several Purple Hearts, and more for his time in the Army with the 16th.

“He and I are pretty close, we’ve traveled together. He and my daughter – you wouldn’t believe that a 5-year-old and a 96-year-old would be that close,” Anthes said. Anthes said Lambert has always been a good source of advice for him, even when the younger veteran was facing the question of what would happen if he were to die in the line of duty.

While Anthes said it never made much sense to others, Lambert’s reply gave him some comfort.

“Just remember this, men like us think about this kind of stuff too much,” he had said.

But his connection with the 16th goes even deeper. Serving as its commander, he always remembered Spc. Patrick Miller, a close friend who had served in the 16th and been killed by a roadside bomb in 2008.

“I wear one of those remembrance bands,” Anthes said. “I dedicated my command to him.”

For Anthes, the ability to serve in the historic 16th, and to preserve and honor the memory of his friend. He says that it feels like things have come full circle, but that it is by no means over.