Army Sgt. Edmond L. Randle

Died January 17, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Miami, Fla.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed while conducting a surveillance sweep for improvised explosive devices Jan. 17, when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck such a device and overturned north of Taji, Iraq.

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Edmond L. Randle was looked up to as a role model by his younger sister and cousins. He always did what he had to do, studied and stayed out of trouble.

“I hate to keep saying perfect, but he was the perfect kid, and that bothers me because I wonder why he had to be the one,” said his mother, Karla Randle-West.

Sgt. Randle, 26, of Miami, was killed Jan. 17 in an explosion on a road near Taji, north of Baghdad. He graduated from high school in Miami in 1995 and was based at Fort Hood, Texas.

Randle, a trumpet player and avid video game-head, attended Florida A&M University in Tallahassee, Fla., on a music scholarship but later chose pharmacy studies. For four months, he worked as a Delta Air Lines baggage clerk to help pay his tuition and expenses. He was worried before going to Iraq, but soon became enthusiastic about helping people there, his loved ones said.

“He used to tell his mom how Iraqi kids came up and asked for something, anything, to eat,” said his uncle, William McKnight.

— Associated Press