Army Maj. Mark E. Rosenberg

Remember Our Heroes

Army Maj. Mark E. Rosenberg, 32, of Miami Lakes, Fla.

Major Rosenberg was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died April 8, 2008in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

South Florida soldier killed in blast
By JENNIFER LEBOVICH

A Hollywood-born U.S. Army major on his second Iraq tour died after his Humvee was struck in Baghdad.

U.S. Army Maj. Mark E. Rosenberg, who as a boy would run around his family's South Florida home in military fatigues, was killed Tuesday in Baghdad. He was 32.

The Humvee Rosenberg was riding in hit an improvised explosive device on April 8; he died in the operating room, his family said.

Rosenberg began his second tour in Iraq a few days after Thanksgiving.

''He felt like what he was doing in Iraq was the right thing both times,'' said his sister, Lori Sousa, of Boynton Beach.

``He felt this was a humanitarian thing we needed to do. This time he felt he was really making a difference.''

Rosenberg was part of the military intelligence tactical team, providing military training to Iraqis.

He was born in Hollywood and grew up in Miramar and North Miami-Dade.

He graduated from American High School in Miami-Dade and attended the New Mexico Military Institute, where he met his wife, Julie.

He entered the Army in 1996, following his father, Burton Rosenberg, a warrant officer.

In the late '90s, Rosenberg finished school at Florida International University.

Rosenberg and his sister were close. Their weddings were only a day apart in 1999.

''I got married at the Sheraton in Dania, and he got married at the Hilton across the street the following day,'' she said. ``It was a lot of fun.''

He spent a year in Korea from 2001 to 2002 and returned to Miami briefly before moving to Oklahoma.

Rosenberg and his wife lived in Fountain, Colo., with their two sons, Joshua, 3 and Maxwell, 22 months.

''He was the life of the party, an infectious laugh,'' Sousa said. ``Everybody wants to be around him. A wonderful father.''

He loved scuba diving, playing Wii with his family and tinkering with things around the house.

He received a number of medals and commendations from the Army.

Rosenberg was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 29th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo. and will be buried in a military cemetery in Colorado Springs.

He is also survived by his father, Burton Rosenberg, his mother, Sheila Buckland, stepfather Peter Buckland, and his brother Neil Buckland.

Army Maj. Mark E. Rosenberg was killed in action on 4/8/08.