Army Lt. Col. David E. Cabrera

Remember Our Heroes

Army Lt. Col. David E. Cabrera, 41, of Abilene, Texas

Lt Col Cabrera was assigned to Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md.; died Oct. 29, 2011 in Kabul province, Afghanistan, of wounds caused by an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Christopher R. Newman, Army Sgt. James M. Darrough and Army Sgt. Carlo F. Eugenio.


Lt Col Cabrera was killed along with 12 others when a suicide car bomber rammed the NATO convoy in which he was riding in. He had just deployed to Afghanistan on September 30.

Lt Col Cabrera graduated from Sam Houston High School in 1988 and attended Texas A&M University. He joined the Army in 1996 and served as a Medical Service Corps Officer.

Lt Col Cabrera was Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the Uniformed Serivce University of Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD, where he saw patients, taught third- and fourth-year military medical students, conducted research in the fields of resilience, PTSD and post-traumatic growth, and avidly participated in a number of university field training exercises and activities.

He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel on September 1, 2011, in a small ceremony at USU, surrounded by his family, friends, and close colleagues.

Lt Col Cabrera had a great sense of humor, was easy going and had an infectious smile. He loved to travel the world with his family and friends. He climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Rainier in addition to other mountain peaks. He loved the ocean.

Wife, August said she received her last letter from her husband four days after she learned that he had been killed. He had written the letter in honor of their wedding anniversary, October 19th. He had mailed it from Afghanistan weeks before.

"I figured it had been lost because it had been so long," said August. "It sort of felt like a gift from God, you know, like, 'Here's the last thing David said to you.' It was very, sweet, very sweet, just filled with love."

Lt Col Cabrera's 7 year old son, Max said, "He never said tomorrow. You want to ride a bike, let's do it today. You want to climb a mountain, let's do it today."

August said, "He never postponed anything. He lived in the moment. Almost like he knew he wasn't going to have all the time in the world."

August last spoke with her husband the day before he was killed. She told him to be safe and he promised to come home. She woke up during the night and felt something was wrong. It wasn't long before she found out why.

Lt Col Cabrera is survived by father and step-mother, Robert and Anita; wife, August, and their sons Maxwell and Roanin; son Corbin and daughter Gillian; siblings Darcy, David, Daniel, Paul, Renae, Diane, Angelina, Robert, Samuel, Julie, Kevin, Michael

Army Lt. Col. David E. Cabrera was killed in action on 10/29/11.