Army Sgt. Douglas J. Bull

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. Douglas J. Bull, 29, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

Sgt. Bull was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died July 8, 2008 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained in Chow Kay Valley, Afghanistan, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during a mounted patrol.

WILKES-BARRE – A Meyers High School graduate died Tuesday from injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb blast while serving in Afghanistan, his mother, Mary Rambus said Thursday.

U.S. Army Sgt. Douglas John Bull, 29, died at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan a few hours after the vehicle he was riding in was struck by improvised explosive device in Chow Kay Valley, Afghanistan, according to Army records.

He’s the seventh soldier from Luzerne County to die in Iraq or Afghanistan since the war on terrorism began in 2001.

Bull, a member of the 1st Infantry Division stationed at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas, was the only soldier to die in the bombing, Army records indicated.

“He was only over there for maybe two weeks. They were on a routine patrol,” his mother said, her voice cracking.

Enlisting after his high school graduation in 1997, he was a career military man with nine years in the Army.

This was his third time to serve overseas. His mother said he previously served in Iraq for one year and three years in Germany.

She said he will be deeply missed.

“Everybody loved him. He was well-known. He had a great personality,” she said of her oldest son, who she said enjoyed playing paintball and football with friends.

Bull has a younger brother, Jacob, and three younger step-siblings, including John, Erica and Amanda.

Bull will be laid to rest in a veterans cemetery near Fort Hood, his mother said. Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery is in Killeen.

His body is expected to be returned stateside today and to Texas by Tuesday, his mom said.

She expects a memorial service will be held locally within a couple of weeks, but the details are still pending.

Even though Bull was not a Pennsylvania National Guard member, those soldiers also felt the loss of a brother in arms, said Sgt.1st Class John Paul Karpovich of 109th Field Artillery of the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Many soldiers from the 109th knew Bull’s father, Chris Bull, who served with the battalion’s service battery.

The Pennsylvania National Guard followed Army guidelines when notifying Bull’s family locally, Karpovich said.

A chaplain and casualty notification officer were sent to Rambus’ home and the soldier’s father Chris Bull’s home in Wapwallopen, Karpovich said.

Bull leaves a wife and two children, 6-year-old daughter Arianna and 3-year old son Jaden.

Army Sgt. Douglas J. Bull was killed in action on 7/08/08.