Soldier remembered for his smile and laugh

More than 300 friends, family members and fellow soldiers turned out for a memorial service Tuesday for the Army Reserve 9th Mission Support Command deputy commander who was killed in a boating accident at Waianae Boat Harbor on Thursday.

Col. Kirk R. Slaughter, 49, of Lyons, Neb., was remembered as a positive influence who loved his wife and four kids, was big into sports, and had a “thousand-watt smile” and infectious laugh.

Wife Kim and children Allison, Max, Zoe and Derek — the last of whom was sworn into the Army by his father and is in aviation school training to be a helicopter pilot — attended the memorial service at Fort Shafter Flats, headquarters of the 9th Mission Support Command, along with other family members.

“They are just remarkable. As any family, they are grieving, but they have a lot of support from our Army Reserve ohana,” said Col. William Nutter, who commands the 9th MSC’s theater support group.

Nutter said Slaughter, who was deputy commander of operations for the 9th MSC, will be buried in Nebraska. Slaughter’s LinkedIn page said he had been in Hawaii and at Fort Shafter Flats since July. Before that, Slaughter was at the Air War College in Alabama.

Between 7 and 7:30 a.m. on Thursday, a 21-foot recreational powerboat exiting the Waianae harbor ran over Slaughter at the mouth of the harbor, according to emergency responders.

The soldier had a mask and a surfboard or paddleboard. Hawaii News Now reported that Slaughter was swimming with his daughter. He was pronounced dead at the scene, the 9th MSC said.

The Honolulu Police Department said Tuesday it is still investigating the death.

At the memorial service, Nutter remembered the officer he first met over 16 years ago as being “always the optimist” and kind but firm. He joined the Army National Guard after high school and on a support mission to Bosnia was offered a full-time job with the Army Reserve, his obituary said. He also deployed to Iraq in 2006.

“My first impression of Kirk was a confident officer who had it together, (who was) ambitious and extremely personable,” Nutter said in his prepared remarks. “In my first initial meeting with him, he told me he was a former state trooper in Nebraska. This knowledge of him earned my respect right away and after witnessing his career over 16 years … I can see how this state trooper experience enabled him to be the extraordinary leader he had become.”

Slaughter’s obituary says he loved sports and participated in football, basketball, track and baseball in high school and track in college. That fondness carried over into support for his kids’ athletics, and he and his wife liked going to their football, basketball, volleyball, soccer and softball games, his obituary said.

“He had a talent in cheering on his children and their teams from the stands, as every stadium was aware of Kirk’s presence,” the memorial states.

A GoFundMe page set up to help the family titled “In loving memory of Kirk Slaughter” said he will be remembered for his thousand-watt smile.

Amy Wilson posted on the page that her son played baseball with Slaughter’s son Derek. “Kirk’s smile was infectious and his baseball chants were the best around,” she said.

Slaughter worked full time for the Army Reserve. The 9th MSC has more than 3,000 soldiers in Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, Japan, South Korea and Alaska, officials said.