Army Sgt. 1st Class Todd M. Harris

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. 1st Class Todd M. Harris, 37, of Tucson, Ariz.

SFC Harris was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died Nov. 3, 2010 in Badghis province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire.

FORT DRUM, N.Y., Nov. 5, 2010 — A soldier from the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division was killed in Badghis province, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Nov. 3, from wounds sustained in a small arms attack.

He was an indirect fire infantryman with the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment. He deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom with the 1st Brigade Combat Team in March 2010.

Harris joined the Army in February 1998. His previous duty assignments include Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg.

He arrived at Fort Drum in August 2009. Harris previously deployed to Afghanistan in 2002, Iraq in 2003 and 2006 and Suriname in 2008.

Harris’s awards and decorations include five Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, five Army Good Conduct Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, the Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the NATO Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, two Noncommissioned Officers Professional Development Ribbons, the Army Service Ribbon, the Special Forces Tab, Combat Infantryman Badge, Expert Infantryman Badge, Parachutist Badge, and the Air Assault Badge.

He also completed the basic Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training, and again with the High Risk component, the Infantry Mortar Platoon Officer training, the Advance Leadership Course, the Warrior Leadership Course, the Airborne School, the Air Assault School and the Combat Lifesavers Course.

Family remembers Tucson soldier
TUCSON - Todd Harris, a Tucson soldier and 1992 graduate of Sahuaro High School was killed in Afghanistan this week. It was Harris's 4th tour of duty.
You always fear the worst and this is the worst," said god sister, Denisha Wade.

Trying to hold back her tears, Wade said she still can't believe her god brother is gone.

"I couldn't believe it; I collapsed and just broke down," said Wade.

Wade said Harris was expected to end his deployment sometime this coming April.

"We've been talking this entire week. I told him I can't wait to see you, please be safe. And he was going to come back here for awhile and settle down for a little bit," said Wade.

Wade said Harris had the biggest heart and was always there for her while growing up.

"Anything somebody needed you ask him he'll do it if he could," said Wade.

And Wade said she wants the community to realize just how special Harris was as a father, and as a hero.

"I just want people to remember him as the loving, caring, sweetheart person he was. And to remember him as a person who did serve his country," said Wade.

TUCSON - The family of a Tucson soldier has confirmed that he has died in Afghanistan.

Todd Harris, a soldier in the U.S. Army and a graduate of Sahuaro High School in 1992, has died in Afghanistan. He is survived by his son and daughter.

Friends of Harris tell News 4 that he played football for Sahuaro, and was very popular among his classmates.

Best friend Scott Ford says he's known Todd since the 5th grade and can't believe that he's gone.

Ford said, "Todd Harris was a man that had a smile that would light up the room."

He says Todd planned on coming to Tucson for the holidays.

Ford said, "He said he was coming down during winter time to hang out in Tucson, and then a few days later I found out that he passed away, it's just crazy."

Army Sgt. 1st Class Todd M. Harris was killed in action on 11/03/10.