A veteran soldier and father of four died April 4th supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, according to the Department of Defense:
Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize, 35, of Hancock, Minnesota
Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt Kruize died in Baghdad, Iraq of injuries sustained in a non-combat related vehicle accident. He was assigned to the 367th Engineer Battalion, St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Since 2001, there have been 1040 American troops killed in Afghanistan, and since 2003, 4390 American troops killed in Iraq. The (IGTNT) "I Got The News Today" title is a reminder that each casualty had family and friends who received the heart-wrenching news that their loved one will not be coming home.
Please take a moment to remember them and their sacrifice.
The St. Cloud Times reported that the body of Army Reserve Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize, 35, arrived earlier this week at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, after he died on April 4th in Bagdad, Iraq.
Although his death is under investigation, his father, Lyle Kruize, said that his son was killed in a "freak accident" when he was crushed between a tractor and a trailer in the motor pool.
Billie Jo Kruize traveled to Dover AFB to receive her husband's body and returned to northeast St. Cloud, were the couple lives with their four children, ages 13, 10, 5 and 2.
Dover AFB - AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana and (photo source)
Sgt. Kruize had arrived in Iraq only a month ago for his second tour of duty there.
He would have been 36 years old in June.
His wife said she had suspected something terrible had happened to Kurt when her "Happy Easter" text message had gone unanswered.
The family spent Easter with her parents, and then returned home to find military officers waiting.
"I got closer, my heart just drooped. They were wearing uniforms," Billie Jo said.
Inside, the officers told her and the children that Sgt. Kruize died in an accident.
Kurt Kruize grew up in the small, west-central Minnesota town of Hancock. He had always wanted to serve his country and joined the Army Reserves while a junior in high school, as reported by the AP at grandforksherald. After graduating from Hancock High School in 1993, he moved to St. Cloud, where he studied automotive mechanics at a technical college in Detroit Lakes. That's where Kruize met his wife, a fellow student at the college.
Two Minnesota hometowns mourn the tragic loss of one of their own. Funeral services for Sgt. Kurt Kruize will be held Monday morning at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud.
A burial ceremony will follow in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery, near Camp Ripley.
The Patriot Guard riders will escort their fallen brother to the memorial services.
Kurt Kruize followed his father's career and worked as an auto mechanic for several years. He served his first tour in Iraq in 2003 with the 367th Engineers, a "combat support unit which provides Engineering support for combat units."
According to a story at St. Cloud Times, in 2007, Kruize began working as a fork lift operator at the Viking Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in St. Cloud, a job he "really loved."
He also "liked to hunt and fish, grill on the outdoor BBQ, and loved being in the military."
Sgt. Kruize also enjoyed being a father to his own young family, between his job,
military training, and deployments with his unit.
"He loved spending time with those kids," his father said in the story.
"He did a lot of things with those kids."
Army Reserve Sgt. Kruize is survived by his wife, and four children, mother and father, a brother and two sisters.
Sgt. Kurt E. Kruize will be missed. REST IN PEACE.
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Helping our troops: If you wish to assist our military and their families, consider Operation Helmet, or Fisher House. Sponsoring a deployed service member at TroopCarePackage.com can provide letters or care packages that make a real difference in a military person's life. To assist the animal companions of our deployed military, information is available at guardian angels for soldierspet.
When our veterans come back home, they need jobs. Look at the programs of Veterans Green Jobs and Welcome Back Veterans. Encourage a Vet, and see if you can help out.
About the IGTNT series: I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect, and remember the fallen, and to remind us that each of the fallen has loved ones left behind. All of the casualties can be found at icasualties, and the DoD news releases at defense gov/releases. Published photos of the returning fatalities are found on the Dover AFB page. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories. Since 2001, there have been 1040 American troops killed in Afghanistan. Since 2003, there have been 4390 American troops killed in Iraq.
(photos by CalNM; Thanks to Timroff for our IGTNT logo.)
Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries in the series which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, Proud Mom and Grandma, Sandy on Signal, and me, CalNM. These diaries are heartbreaking to write, but are an important service to those who have died, and show our community’s respect for our fallen brothers and sisters.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.