Soldier who survived 9/11 attack on Pentagon dies in Iraq

Associated Press ^ | 08/13/03 | Staff Writer

[bedolido]

'Somebody just said today that he was born in the military, but he wasn't. It was just that he loved it.'

GUILFORD, Conn. — A U.S. Army counterintelligence analyst whose Pentagon office was struck by the hijacked jetliner on Sept. 11, 2001, has died of a pulmonary embolism while serving in Iraq, his father said Wednesday. Military officials notified the family of Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton Jr. on Tuesday, his father — also Richard Eaton — said.

“Somebody just said today that he was born in the military, but he wasn’t,” the elder Eaton said. “It was just that he loved it.”

The family said they had few details about the soldier’s death.

The elder Eaton, who is a spokesman for the University of New Haven, said his son’s Pentagon office was being remodeled at the time of the terrorist strike. He said his son was in another part of the building when the commandeered jetliner struck it.

Eaton was with the Fort Meade, Md.-based 323rd Military Intelligence Battalion, which deployed to Iraq in March, said his mother, Sharon Noble.

Eaton, who never married, decided early that he wanted to enter the military, his father said. As a high school student Eaton refused to get out of the car during a car trip to more than a dozen college campuses, his father said.

Back home after the lengthy trip, his father told him he had to make his own decision. The young man went to the local recruiting office and brought a recruiter home to meet his parents.

“He said, ‘He’s old enough to enlist himself at 18, but he really wants your approval,”’ the elder Eaton said. “Then he explained that they could give him the best work that the military had to offer.”

Originally published on August 13, 2003

[anniegetyourgun]

Thank you, soldier.

[KantianBurke]

pulmonary embolism? That common or chalk this up as another "mystery" disease?

[CHICAGOFARMER]

Thank you sir.

You have my highest respect.

Semper Fi

Son of the First Revolution

[wideawake]

He changed the world into a better place.

God bless him.

[Ann Archy]

R.I.P....God Bless Him.

[fortaydoos]

Another of our best, and a hero. Too bad Fox won't spend more time on this man than kobe and the rest of the freakshow that makes up 90% of the news.

[Rider on the Rain]

If I may quote a line from the movie "The Bridges at Toko-Ri."

Where do we get these men?

May God bless and keep him.

[yankeedame]

"Anyone may take life from a man, but no one death. A thousand gates stand open to it." -Spanish saying.

[Shermy]

Yep, that's the disease. Virus? Q Fever?? Ricin???

[Shooter 2.5]

Very common. He's the second to die of the disease in Iraq. The first was a reporter.

[kylaka]

Same thing that got NBC reporter David Bloom.

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Soldiers never die, they are promoted to a higher Army.

[SendShaqtoIraq]

Actually, he's at least the third. A soldier from Evansville, IN, also died of PE in Kuwait, even before the reporter did.

[pfflier]

pulmonary embolism? That common or chalk this up as another "mystery" disease?

Pulmonary embolosms are more common where fine dust is present. The environment in Iraq is most likely your mystery disease.