Army Sgt. Cody R. Legg

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Cody R. Legg, 23, of Escondido, Calif.

Sgt. Legg was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y.; died June 4, 2008 in Tikrit, Iraq, of wounds sustained in Sharqat, Iraq, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using small-arms fire and hand grenades. Also killed were Sgt. Shane P. Duffy and Spc. Jonathan D. A. Emard.

Fort Drum, New York -- Sgt. Cody R. Legg, an infantry noncommissioned officer assigned to 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, was killed June 4 when his unit was engaged by enemy forces with small arms fire and hand grenades while assaulting a building near Hawijah, Iraq.

Sgt. Cody R. Legg, 23, joined the Army in July 2003 and completed basic and advanced individual training at Fort Benning, Ga.

Originally from Escondido, Calif., Legg's first assignment was with 2nd Infantry Division based at Camp Casey, Korea. In December 2004, he was reassigned to Fort Drum.

Legg previously deployed with 1st BCT to Iraq from August 2005 to August 2006.

His military education includes the Warrior Leader Course.

Legg's awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon and the Combat Infantryman Badge.

He is survived by his father; mother and stepfather; and brother.

ESCONDIDO ---- U.S. Army Sgt. Cody Legg has been killed in fighting in Iraq, just a few days after returning to his unit following a visit with his family in Escondido.

Legg, 23, died in the city of Tikrit on Wednesday from wounds suffered during fighting in the nearby city of Sharqat about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, the Defense Department announced Friday.

At the family home, Legg's father, David, said his son relished his life as a soldier and the men and women he served with.

"He loved his country, he loved being in the Army and the people that he led in his platoon," he said. "They were his family."

Two other men from his unit also died Wednesday when their squad was attacked by small arms fire and hand grenades, the Defense Department said. Also killed were Sgt. Shane P. Duffy, 22, of Taunton, Mass., and Spc. Jonathan D. Emard, 20, of Mesquite, Texas.

The three 10th Mountain Division infantrymen were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Team based at Fort Drum, N.Y.

Legg's father, a physical education teacher and baseball coach at Vista Murrieta High School in Murrieta, said he was at work when he got word that his son had been killed.

"It's the visit you don't want to get," he said. "I was just kind of numb. At first, you don't believe it."

Cody Legg was born in San Diego and graduated from San Pasqual High School in Escondido in 2003, where he played on the baseball team as a catcher and outfielder.

He entered the Army shortly after graduating and was on his second assignment in Iraq when he died.

Legg spent much of May with his family and friends while home on a 21-day leave, his father said.

"He just did a lot of hanging out with his buddies and going to Disneyland and Padre games," David Legg said.

The two never spent a lot of time talking about the war, David Legg said, adding that he knew his son was committed to the U.S. involvement in Iraq.

"The young man will forever be my hero for being willing to do what he did," his father said. "He made the ultimate sacrifice."

His survivors include his mother and father and a stepmother and five stepbrothers.

Army Sgt. Cody R. Legg was killed in action on 6/04/08.