Army Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney

Died May 18, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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59, of Schaumburg, Ill.; assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 106th Aviation Regiment, Army National Guard, Chicago; died May 18 in Landstuhl, Germany, from complications following surgery for a sudden medical condition that led to Chaney’s medical evacuation from Iraq.

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A Vietnam veteran, Staff Sgt. William D. Chaney went to Iraq hoping his experience there would lessen the bitterness from his Vietnam days, his wife said. "When he came back (from Vietnam), he had trouble joining the VFW because they said he hadn't fought in a real war," Carol Chaney said. "He wanted to be an air traffic controller, what he was trained to do in Vietnam, but he was told that training was not transferable back at home. That left him a little bitter." She said Chaney joined VietNow, a veteran's organization, in 1986, and was motivated to join a Reserve unit. He worked as a technician at Chicago's Midway Airport. Chaney, 59, of Schaumburg, Ill., got sick in Iraq and was sent to a military hospital in Germany. He died May 18 from complications after surgery to remove his appendix. He is survived by his wife and son, Christopher.

— Associated Press