Army Capt. Nathan R. Raudenbush

Died February 20, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of Earl Township, Pa.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died Feb. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

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Family: Fort Stewart soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

DOUGLASSVILLE, Pa. — Family members say a Fort Stewart, Ga., solider has been killed in Iraq.

Relatives say 26-year-old Army 1st Lt. Nathan Raudenbush was killed Feb. 20 afternoon in southern Baghdad. He was patrolling in a Humvee destroyed by a roadside bomb. Two other soldiers were injured.

Raudenbush was the son of Brian and Mary Raudenbush of Earl Township. He was a 2001 graduate of Spring-Ford High School in Royersford, Montgomery County.

Brian Raudenbush says his son was a longtime member of the Boy Scouts of America, and enjoyed distance running and golf. He is survived his wife, Casey, and their 20-month-old son, Jackson, of Port Wentworth, Ga.

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Pa. soldier killed in Iraq posthumously promoted

The Associated Press

DOUGLASSVILLE, Pa. — A soldier from Pennsylvania who was killed in Iraq has been posthumously promoted.

Capt. Nathan Raudenbush was killed Feb. 20 in southern Baghdad when the Humvee he was in was destroyed by a roadside bomb. Two other soldiers were injured in the blast.

The 25-year-old Raudenbush was an Army first lieutenant at the time of his death. He was later elevated to captain.

“That is Army policy for anyone who is promotable,” Kevin Larson, spokesman for Fort Stewart, Ga., where Raudenbush was stationed, said Feb. 25.

Raudenbush was a 2001 graduate of Spring-Ford High School in Royersford. He was a longtime member of the Boys Scouts of America and enjoyed distance running and golf, according to his family. He joined the ROTC as a freshman at Widener University.

His father, Brian, said one reason his son signed up for ROTC was because he was inspired to help his country following the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

“We called his class the Class of 9/11,” said Lt. Col. Robert Sewall, professor of military science at Widener and commander of the ROTC Freedom Battalion.

“He was a very good cadet,” Sewall said. “I always thought he had a great command presence about him. He was an excellent mentor of the more junior cadets.”

Raudenbush’s father said his son was a bit scared about the dangers of his deployment, but secure in his training.

“He was ready to do this for his country,” Brian Raudenbush said.

Raudenbush was a tank commander with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, according to the Defense Department. He was deployed to Iraq in September.

Raudenbush is survived his wife, Casey, and their 20-month-old son, Jackson, of Port Wentworth, Ga.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete Feb. 25.

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Soldier remembered for holding family together

The Associated Press

Above everything else, Army Capt. Nathan R. Raudenbush was devoted to his large extended family, his father said.

“He was the one always calling everyone to get together,” said Brian Raudenbush. “He was the one who held us together. It was amazing to see in a young man.”

Raudenbush, 25, of Port Wentworth, Pa., was killed Feb. 20 by a roadside bomb in Busayefi, Iraq. He graduated from Widener University with a bachelor’s degree in computer science in 2005 and was assigned to Fort Stewart, Ga.

“He was a brilliant kid and a really good guy,” said his uncle, Kevin Raudenbush. “Even as a teenager you could always count on him to baby-sit or to do anything. His mom always said she wished she had 10 more kids like him.”

Nathan joined Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at Widener University during his freshman year, 2001. “He went to school in August 2001 and then Sept. 11 hit and that solidified in his mind that he wanted to do something” to serve his country, said his father.

He is survived by his wife, Casey, and their 20-month-old son, Jackson.

“He could make people smile and laugh no matter what the situation was,” said his father.