Cornell L. Houston
Cornell Lemont Houston was born 22 Jun 1962 in Mobile, Mobile County, Alabama. His parents were Arthur Lee Houston (1945-1990) and Beverly Wells. He attended Compton Senior High School in Compton, California. Houston played football as a defensive back in High School.
. He joined the Army on 26 Jan 1988. Cornell Houston was assigned to C Company, 41st Engineering Battalion, at Fort Drum. He had arrived in Somalia in August 1993 on his second tour as part of the Quick Reaction Force (based in Mogadishu at the University Compound). The first tour was during the initial invasion force that when into Somalia under the direction of George H. W. Bush. Houston told family members that he had a sense that things were worse the second time around.
During the Battle of Mogadishu, Houston was part of the Quick Reaction Force rescue convoy that went in to secure downed Blackhawk helicopters and save pinned-down Rangers. On October 3, 1993 he was wounded by gunfire and shrapnel, sustaining chest and other internal injuries, and died October 6 in the Landstuhl Army Regional Medical Center in Germany.
It was said that he liked to joke around and loved the military. SGT Houston spent a decade in service to his country as a combat engineer. “That smile” is something people are apt to bring up when they talk about Sgt. Cornell L. Houston. It was his smile that his wife, Carmen, remembers about their first encounter. She was walking down the street in her hometown of Mobile, Alabama, when a car stopped to give her a ride. Inside were a girlfriend and a guy she didn’t know. He had a big smile on his face. It was Cornell Houston. The Rev. Clate Borders of Thomas Memorial AME Zion Church in Watertown, N.Y., remembers that smile, too. “I’ll never forget it. He had a gold tooth up front,” Borders said.
“He wanted to help everybody,” Borders said. “He liked to help those who could not help themselves.”
Cornell Houston was likely awarded the following medals and commendations:
- Purple Heart medal
- Bronze Star Medal with “V” device for valor
- De Fleury Medal
- United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Medal
- National Defense Service Medal
- Meritorious Service Medal
He died 6 Oct 1993 in Landstuhl, Landkreis Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany. He is buried at Mobile National Cemetery in Mobile, Alabama.
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