Soldier Killed
Babineau Leaves Behind Wife, 3 Children
UPDATED: 6:50 pm EDT June 19, 2006
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- A Springfield family is mourning a soldier who was killed in a checkpoint attack in Iraq this weekend.
NewsCenter 5's Pam Cross reported that Army Spc. David Babineau, 25, leaves behind a wife and three children.
Babineau was driving a Humvee that was ambushed three days ago in Yusufiyah, Iraq, in an area known as the Triangle of Death. His two teammates are missing.
"It is really sad for his family and his friends," said Babineau's high school classmate Gladys Franco.
Babineau graduated from Springfield's Science and Technology High School in 1998.
"I just recently found out that it was David. It's just really sad to hear a classmate and a young person passed away. He was someone with so much potential," Franco said.
Mary Jane Cook taught Babineau for two years and said his class of 150 students was a small, close-knit group. The class of 1998 was the first class to graduate from the high school.
"They did everything together. They planned everything together. Being the first graduating class, they started the traditions here at Sci Tech. They were all very friendly, very close," she said.
Babineau's mother said his tour of duty was originally scheduled to end in May, but he was kept on for a second tour.
"Several of our students have gone into the military and it is very sad to think that at such a young age he has passed away," said Cook.
Babineau's wife and children live near Fort Campbell, Ky., where he was stationed with the 101st Airborne Division.
"In the last will and testament of the class of 1998, he said he wanted to be a five-star general. So I guess he died doing what he liked to do," Franco said.