Army Pfc. David J. Badie

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pfc. David J. Badie, 23, of Rockford, Ill.

Pfc. Badie was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Aug. 1, 2008 in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan, from wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. Also killed were 2nd Lt. Michael R. Girdano, Spc. William J. Mulvihill and Pvt. Jair DeJesus Garcia.

Chicago Tribune -- Pfc. David John Badie, 23, who died Friday in a bomb blast, had found structure in the Army and had planned to attend college when his enlistment ended, said his sister, Kassandra, 18.

"He liked to play football," she recalled in a phone interview from the family's home. "He loved pretty much any sport. He loved to do daredevilish things. He jumped out of a moving car once." The Department of Defense said that Badie and three other soldiers died in Chowkay Valley in Afghanistan of wounds suffered when their vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Badie was assigned to the Special Troops Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Ft. Hood, Texas.

Badie was born in Mesa, Ariz., and lived there until he was about 14, his sister said. He moved with his family to the Midwest and attended Milton High School in Milton, Wis., and later received a general equivalency diploma.

He had been living with his family in Rockford before enlisting in 2004.

"He was working at different places," she said. "He wanted to turn his life around and do something with himself. That's when he joined the Army."

His deployment worried family members, but he wanted to serve his country, Kassandra Badie said. "He was very proud that he was doing it," she said.

The Associated Press quoted Badie's stepfather, Daniel Morgan, as saying that Badie told him when he was home in June to tell his family how much he loved them if he were to be wounded or killed.

"He enjoyed what he was doing and was proud to be in the Army," Morgan told the AP. "At the same time, he knew the risks. He wanted to remind me how very much he cared for his brothers and sisters."

==Another News Story==

Associated Press -- A soldier from Rockford who had plans to attend college when his U.S. Army enlistment ended was killed by a bomb blast in Afghanistan as he returned from a patrol, his family said Saturday.

Daniel Morgan said Army officials came to his home to tell him that his son, Pfc. David John Badie, had died Friday. Badie was home in June, on leave before his deployment, and asked his father in a conversation away from his siblings to tell his family how much he loved them if he were to be wounded or killed.

"He enjoyed what he was doing and was proud to be in the Army," Morgan said. "At the same time, he knew the risks. He wanted to remind me how very much he cared for his brothers and sisters. He asked me to tell them that if the worst happened."

The worst happened on Friday as his son's unit was returning to its base after a mine detection mission, Morgan said. Army casualty affairs officers arranged for Morgan to speak with his son's commanding officer, who told him that somehow the unit missed an improvised explosive near its camp, Morgan said.

"He said it happened very quick and that my son didn't suffer," Morgan said. "He told me my son never knew what hit him."

NATO officials said roadside bombs killed five NATO soldiers Friday in eastern Afghanistan. They did not release the nationalities of those soldiers but most troops in those eastern areas are American.

The dead soldier's sister, Kassandra Badie, said her brother had changed his life around since enlisting two years ago.

Before joining the Army, Badie said her brother "sowed some wild oats." When he visited in June, she noticed a change.

"My brother and I talked about everything," Badie said. "He was really my best friend. He seemed more focused when he came home. He had goals. He wanted to go to college when he got out of the Army."

Army Pfc. David J. Badie was killed in action on 8/1/08.