Virginia Soldier Killed in Iraq
posted 5:28 pm Wed January 30, 2008 - Washington
A Virginia solider was killed Sunday in Iraq after an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on patrol.
An Army spokesperson says 40-year-old Major Alan Rogers was walking the streets of Baghdad with his unit when the IED exploded fatally wounding him. "I know that the person who pulled the trigger, if they would have talked to him for five minutes, they would not have done that," said Rogers' friend David Valcourt.
Rogers was from Hampton, Florida but friends say lived in Northern Virginia. He entered the Army in 1990 and this was his second deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
Rogers was serving as a military intelligence officer on a military transition team based out of Fort Riley, Kansas when he was killed.
Roger' parents died in a car accident a few years ago and he had no siblings. But he had many close friends, all of whom say the world has lost a good man.
"I'm brokenhearted cause Alan was a wonderful, wonderful human being and he brought people together from all different parts of life," said Lee Castillo.
To date 142 Fort Riley Soldiers and Airmen has been killed while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Rogers' friends say the military is planning a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, but because of the number of soldiers waiting to be buried there, it might be April before that can happens.
An Army spokesperson says 40-year-old Major Alan Rogers was walking the streets of Baghdad with his unit when the IED exploded fatally wounding him. "I know that the person who pulled the trigger, if they would have talked to him for five minutes, they would not have done that," said Rogers' friend David Valcourt.
Rogers was from Hampton, Florida but friends say lived in Northern Virginia. He entered the Army in 1990 and this was his second deployment in support of the Global War on Terrorism.
Rogers was serving as a military intelligence officer on a military transition team based out of Fort Riley, Kansas when he was killed. Roger' parents died in a car accident a few years ago and he had no siblings. But he had many close friends, all of whom say the world has lost a good man.
"I'm brokenhearted cause Alan was a wonderful, wonderful human being and he brought people together from all different parts of life," said Lee Castillo.
To date 142 Fort Riley Soldiers and Airmen has been killed while serving in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.
Rogers' friends say the military is planning a funeral at Arlington National Cemetery, but because of the number of soldiers waiting to be buried there, it might be April before that can happens.
Latest Comment on Virginia Soldier Killed in Iraq
MAJ Dave
3:19 pm on 01/31/08
I was a fiend of Alan's. He was one of the Army's best and brightest. Not only did he get his college degree with help from the Army, but the Army also specially selected him as one of twenty captains to receive a fully-funded scholarship to Georgetown University to earn his Masters degree in Public Policy Management. After earning his graduate degree, he was specifically selected from among those top-twendy captains to serve in the single highest-profile assignment that someone could serve at his young age: as the Junior Military Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of Defense where he witnessed the highest levels of Department of Defense policy formulation and decisions on a daily basis.
He volunteered for this Iraq mission--the Army didn't force him or even ask him to go. And he was serving in the most important role that we are playing over there--training the Iraqi Army so that they can take over the responsibility of securing their own country and our soldiers can come home.
Alan was a budding national treasure. He will be sorely missed.
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