Army Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley

Remember Our Heroes

Army Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley, 35, of Smithfield, Pa.

MSgt Lilley was assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died June 15 in Shkin, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire.

Fort Bragg soldier killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press

PITTSBURGH — A Fort Bragg Army master sergeant was killed by gunfire while fighting in Afghanistan, the military said.

Arthur L. Lilley, 35, of Smithfield, Pa., was killed June 15 in Shkin, according to the Department of Defense.

Lilley had been assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, out of Fort Bragg, N.C.

His father, Arthur F. Lilley, said his son joined the military in 1990 and fought in Desert Storm. He was also in Iraq last year.

“He’s got about 25 combat badges,” his father said.

“He loved what he was doing. He enjoyed it. That was his life,” he said. “You always worry, but it’s what he wanted to do.”

Lilley was colorblind and couldn’t pursue his goal of being an air traffic controller for the Air Force, so the Army became an option he never regretted, his mother, Elizabeth Lilley, told The News & Observer of Raleigh, N.C.

Arthur L. Lilley was a youth minister and his wife, Christine, ran the school at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Fayetteville, N.C., Elizabeth Lilley said.

They were high school sweethearts and would have celebrated their 16th wedding anniversary in August.

Lilley is survived by his wife, a daughter, Mackenzie, 10, and a son, Cole, 8.

A memorial service was scheduled for 3 p.m. June 17 at St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church in Fayetteville.

Army Master Sgt. Arthur L. Lilley was killed in action on 6/15/07.