Army Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins, 26, of New Orleans

SSgt Hudgins was assigned to Maintenance Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 2, 2011 in Babil, Iraq, of wounds sustained when enemy forces attacked his position with indirect fire. Also killed was Sgt. Christian A. S. Garcia.

Hudgins was featured in a story about soldiers boxing at Fort Hood in the Fort Hood Sentinel in March 2010. It said he had been fighting his way to-and-from school in his "highly territorial" New Orleans neighborhood.

He quoted his uncle telling him: "If I was going to fight somebody I might as well do it in the ring."

Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins, 26, was on his second tour in Iraq. He attended Sarah T. Reed High School in eastern New Orleans and, according to his Facebook page, he was a member of the class of 2003. He enlisted in the Army in June 2003 and was trained to repair radio and communications equipment, according to the Army.

On Saturday, Hudgins and Sgt. Christian Garcia, 30, of Goodyear, Ariz., died when “enemy forces attacked their position with indirect fire in Babil,” a province between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers south of Baghdad, according to the Defense Department.

Indirect fire refers to mortar or artillery shells or rockets fired from afar. The military did not specify their position, but their unit, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment from Fort Hood, Texas, is based at Contingency Operating Site Kalsu in Iskandariya, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. According to a recent news report, Kalsu still is struck by rockets.

Hudgins had a penchant for boxing, which he said stemmed from the fights he was involved in on the way to and from high school, in a neighborhood he called “highly territorial,” according to a March 2010 interview published in the Fort Hood Sentinel, an Army publication.

His uncle told him, “If I was going to fight somebody, I might as well do it in the ring,” Hudgins told the Fort Hood Sentinel, which reported his and other soldiers’ efforts at competitive boxing.

He joined the 3rd ACR in June 2010, according to the Army, four months before the regiment deployed to Iraq with the mission of helping train Iraqi police and military forces.

Hudgins and Garcia were assigned to the Regimental Support Battalion, which provides logistical support to the troopers. Garcia enlisted in 1999 and was a quartermaster and chemical equipment repairer. He was on his third trip to Iraq, according to the Army.

Staff Sgt. Hudgins previously served in Iraq from October 2005 to September 2005, according to the Army.

His awards include two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, a Meritorious Unit Commendation, two Army Good Conduct Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, a Korean Defense Service Medal and an Iraqi Campaign Medal. He also has received an Air Assault Badge, for completing the Army’s Air Assault School.

In what is called Operation New Dawn, U.S. forces have taken an “advise and assist” role of supporting Iraqi troops and police since last year. As such, U.S. casualties have dropped.

PENSACOLA - The body of Staff Sgt. Quadi Hudgins was brought back to the US.

He was killed in Operation New Dawn in Iraq.

The latest casualty numbers out of Iraq show 4,408 people have died to date.

Hudgins body arrived at Dover Air Force Base yesterday.

He died April 2nd from wounds he suffered when enemy forces attacked his position in Babil, Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Hudgins was stationed in Ft. Hood Texas but as Channel Three's Laurie Bernstein reports he has family here in Pensacola.

"Him in the ring, loved boxing, had a passion for boxing..."

When he wasn't serving as Sergent in the U.S. Army, Quadi Hudgins could be found hitting the gym, pounding the punching bag, training to win his next boxing title and go pro.

Just like his father, Charles Hudgins.

"Pretty much followed in my footsteps"

"He did a lot of following in his footsteps."

Not only did Sgt. Hudgins follow his father into the boxing ring...but into the Army as well.

Members of the Hudgins family have served in World War 2, Korea, and Vietnam...

But now the youngest of that legacy...will not be coming home from Iraq.

He's the first member of the family that didn't make it

According to others that served with Sgt. Hudgins in the 3rd Armored Calvary Regiment out of Fort Hood, their base was being mortared by insurgents.

Several members of the unit were inside their barracks at the time.

"They heard the missiles, they knew it was coming their way, they were running"

"He was the last one to come out, he made it to the door, and the bomb hit"

News of the 26 year old's death hit hard for members of the family who never served in the military.

But for his father, its just a part of life.

"It hurts, but like I said, he was a soldier, and you can expect this"

"I'm not devastated, he was over their doing his job"

Like so many others still in the line of fire.

In addition to his father Charles Hudgins and an aunt, Tonia Hudgins of Pensacola, FL., , Sgt. Hudgins leaves behind his wife Ashley Hudgins and a young daughter; cousins and numerous friends.

Army Staff Sgt. Quadi S. Hudgins was killed in action on 4/2/11.