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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Army Pfc. Dustin A. Yancey
Died November 4, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
22, of Goose Creek, S.C.; assigned to the 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed Nov. 4 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during convoy operations in Baghdad. Also killed was Capt. James M. Gurbisc.
Family, friends say goodbye to Iowa native killed in Iraq
Associated Press
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Friends and family gathered Saturday to say goodbye to Army Spc. Dustin A. Yancey, who was killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq.
Yancey, 22, was killed Nov. 4 in Baghdad when a bomb exploded near the Humvee he was driving. He was expected to return to the United States in January.
Yancey served in the 26th Forward Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. He was a member of the “Top Flite” platoon, a group that provided security to military convoys.
During the service, Capt. David Langer, an Army chaplain, read a letter written by Yancey’s battalion commander, Lt. Col. Michael Armstead.
“Dustin gave us so much and asked for so little,” he read. “He was so good at everything he did.”
Yancey was nicknamed, “the most advanced,” by his friends, the letter read.
Yancey played guitar, disassembled and rebuilt computers and was the “best driver in the U.S. Army,” the letter said. “He was one of the best Hackey sack players around and was always willing to teach.”
Yancey was born and lived in Cedar Rapids until 1991, when his family moved to South Carolina.
His father, Sgt. 1st Class Tim Yancey, of Goose Creek, S.C., said it takes a true hero to “step up to the plate” and volunteer for military service.
“A piece of my heart is gone forever,” he told the crowd of about 100 who gathered for the service at Brosh Chapel. “I love you and I salute you. For you are now our hero and guardian angel.”
During the service, Langer read from an entry of Web log Yancey kept in Iraq.
“What we do here is for the safety of America, the freedom of Iraq, and ourselves,” Langer read. “I take pride in what I do and it doesn’t matter who it is helping, as long as it helps, if only a little.”
Yancey will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date.