“He was a class act....That was a huge loss for the Utah National Guard and for Farmington.” — Maj. Gen. Brian Tarbet, Utah National Guard Thode, 45, a police sergeant in Farmington, N.M., was a sergeant with the Utah National Guard's 118th Sapper Co. (1457th Engineer Battalion), which trained in Blanding. He died when he was struck by an improvised explosive device while clearing a route for coalition forces. He left behind his wife, son and stepdaughter. The Guard rededicated the Blanding armory in Thode's memory a year after his death.