Army Pvt. Charles M. High IV

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pvt. Charles M. High IV, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M.

Pvt. High was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Aug.17, 2010 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device caused a military vehicle rollover. Also killed was Army Pfc. Benjamen G. Chisholm.

A 21-year-old Albuquerque soldier died Tuesday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his patrol vehicle in Kunar province, Afghanistan.

Pvt. Charles Milton High IV, who went by "Charlie," was an infantryman in Company D, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, according to the Army's Fort Campbell website.

High's parents are in Dover, Del., identifying his body, said Arlene High, High's grandmother. She said the Army will be returning High's body to Albuquerque in about seven days.

High joined the Army in June 2007 and was stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky.

High's Facebook page said he had just visited Albuquerque in July. "Nine more months then (I'll) be back fer good," he wrote on the social networking site. On another posting he wrote, "I love my family."

The Department of Defense announced Wednesday that High and another soldier died of wounds sustained when a bomb caused a military vehicle roll-over.

High, who according to his Facebook page was engaged, had a sense of humor.

"Life isn't like a box of chocolates. ...," he wrote more than a week ago on the site. "... Yeah maybe u never know what you are gonna get but in a box of chocolates if you get something you dont like you can just throw it away," he said.

High is survived by his mother, Kimberlea Johnston of New Mindon, Ill., and his father, Charles High of Albuquerque. High was engaged to Maggie Jo Simmonds.

He attended Eldorado High School until his junior year in November 2006 when he withdrew, according to an Albuquerque Public Schools spokesman.

According to the Fort Campbell website, High received several medals and awards in the Army, including the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

Army Pvt. Charles M. High IV was killed in action on 8/17/10.