Soldier, new father killed in Iraq 4/2/2004 11:36 AM By: Associated Press CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Leslie Hufstedler was waiting for her husband to return to Charlotte, N.C., so he could see their baby.
Doyle Hufstedler was trying to arrange a 15-day leave so he could come home from Iraq and hold the baby. He never got the chance. Doyle Hufstedler was assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion based at Fort Riley, Kan. The 25-year-old native of Abilene was among five soldiers who died Wednesday when a bomb detonated under their M-113 in Malahma, Iraq. Leslie and Doyle Hufstedler met at Texas A&M University three years ago while they picked up class rings. He proposed to her in the end zone at halftime of a football game and joined the Army as a 2nd lieutenant. The Hufstedlers celebrated their first wedding anniversary in August. A few days later, they learned Leslie was pregnant. In less than a week, Doyle Hufstedler headed to Iraq. Military officers notified Leslie Hufstedler on Wednesday afternoon at her parents' home. http://www.news8austin.com/content/headlines/?ArID=102651&SecID=2 |
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 Gathering welcomes wave of Fort Riley soldiers back from IraqMore than 1,300 relatives and friends gathered at a hangar at Fort Riley this morning to welcome back a wave of soldiers returning from assignments in Iraq. They cheered and welcomed 640 soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 13th Armor and the 300th Military Police Company from this Army post. "A lot of guys weren't as fortunate as me," said Staff Sgt. Ron Bowie II, after kissing and holding his wife Patricia in a long-awaited embrace. His mission had him in Iraq for 363 days, Patricia said. On Friday, the Defense Department identified five soldiers from Fort Riley who died Wednesday in Iraq when a bomb detonated under their M-113 in Malahma, an area in the Sunni Triangle. It was the deadliest day for Fort Riley, which has lost 35 soldiers since the war began, nearly double the number of deaths during the Persian Gulf War. The soldiers were identified as 1st Lt. Doyle M. Hufstedler, 25, of Abilene, Texas; Spc. Sean R. Mitchell, 24, of Youngsville, Pa.; Spc. Michael G. Karr Jr., 23, of San Antonio, Texas; Pfc. Cleston C. Raney, 20, of Rupert, Idaho; and Pvt. Brandon L. Davis, 20, of Cumberland, Md. In the coming week, an estimated 1,000 more soldiers will return from duty in Iraq to the Fort Riley post near Junction City. "You come back having done a wonderful job, not only for Americans but for all the civilized world," Maj. Gen. Dennis Hardy, commanding general at Fort Riley, told troops Friday morning. |
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All gave some.
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