Army Cpl. Benjamin K. Brosh

Died April 18, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died April 18 at Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Balad, Iraq, of wounds sustained in Paliwoda, Iraq, when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

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101st Airborne soldier killed in explosion in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A Fort Campbell soldier was killed in Iraq when a vehicle carrying a bomb exploded at a checkpoint near Balad, Iraq, on Friday.

Spc. Benjamin K. Brosh, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died of wounds suffered during the explosion at Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Paliwoda.

The 22-year-old specialist was an infantryman assigned to D. Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

Brosh joined the Army in April 2006 and was assigned to Fort Campbell in December 2006.

He is survived by his father, James Brosh of Biloxi, Miss., and his mother, Barbara Brosh, also of Colorado Springs.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear announced Tuesday that flags at state buildings will remain at half-staff until his funeral, for which arrangements are pending.

Flags are currently at half-staff in honor of the death of another Fort Campbell soldier, Staff Sgt. Jason Brown, of Magnolia, Texas, who died April 17 in Sama Village, Iraq.

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Fallen soldier coming home

By Holbrook Mohr

Hattiesburg (Miss.) American

JACKSON — Army Spc. Benjamin K. Brosh is described as an adventurous man who wanted to be on the front lines protecting his buddies and a caring person who enjoyed passing out soccer balls to Iraqi children.

“He was scared but he had the courage to overcome it. There was no such thing as backing down,” said his father, James Brosh, of Biloxi. “The Army was his life.”

Benjamin Brosh, a 22-year-old Biloxi native whose hometown was listed by the military as Colorado Springs, Colo., where his mother lives, died in a vehicle blast April 18 at Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Iraq.

He is to be buried Saturday in Biloxi.

“He believed in what he was doing — seriously believed in it ,” James Brosh said. “He was in quite a few firefights. He was front-line infantry. He chose that.”

The soldier had been home-schooled for several years in Biloxi before getting his general education diploma at Gulf Coast Community College. He then started a crabbing business “and knew the water better than he knew the land,” but suffered several setbacks, including Hurricane Katrina, before joining the Army in 2006, James Brosh said.

During a recent trip home on leave, Benjamin Brosh told his father how much he enjoyed giving out soccer balls to children in Iraq, then challenging the youngsters to a friendly game.

“Can you see somebody out there in full body armor playing soccer?” his father asked with a quiet chuckle under his strained voice. “He got along real good with the Iraqi people. He felt sorry for them for what they’d been through.”

Benjamin Brosh also told his father of the brutality of war, and the struggles some soldiers have coping with their experiences on the battlefield. Many of the troops, the soldier told his father, were most troubled to see children used as human shields or slain for associating with Americans.

Benjamin Brosh was the “rock,” who his Army buddies depended on for advice and reassurance, the father said.

“When he was home on leave, after three days, he was antsy to get back because he thought he had to protect his buddies,” James Brosh said. “I have a great loss from this war. And I’m not bitter. I know that he’s fine. He’s not gone like some people believe.”

Brosh’s body was expected to arrive at an Air National Guard facility in Gulfport on Friday about 9:20 a.m., and there will be a plane-side ceremony, said Matthew Dubaz, a funeral director with Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home. The funeral service will be at noon Saturday at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church in Biloxi. Friends may call two hours prior, Dubaz said. Burial will follow at the Biloxi National Cemetery.

Benjamin Brosh was assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

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Hundreds attend funeral of Biloxi soldier

The Associated Press

BILOXI, Miss. — Army Spc. Benjamin Brosh was laid to rest at Biloxi National Cemetery on Saturday, about a week after he died in an explosion in Iraq.

“He knew there was risk involved, but he wasn’t afraid to die,” said Father Patrick Mockler of Our Lady of Fatima Church, where services were held.

“He died doing what he loved — serving his country in the military,” Mockler said to the hundreds of mourners at the church.

Supporters of Brosh, who attended Gautier High School before joining the Army, aligned Pass Road hours before the noon funeral. Many of them wave American flags.

Brosh’s body was returned to Mississippi on Friday.

The 22-year-old Biloxi native whose hometown was listed by the military as Colorado Springs, Colo., where his mother lives, died in a vehicle blast April 18 at Forward Operating Base Anaconda in Iraq.

He was remembered during Saturday’s service as a loving brother, a wonderful uncle and a terrific son.

Brosh was assigned to D Company, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

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Army Spc. Benjamin K. Brosh remembered

The Associated Pres

Becky Endt, Benjamin K. Brosh’s ninth-grade Mississippi studies teacher in high school, described him as happy.

“That’s my one-word answer,” she said. “He was a fun-loving kid that enjoyed life and enjoyed his friends. When I think of him, I just see him coming down the hall with a big grin on his face.”

Brosh, 22, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died April 18 in Balad after his vehicle struck an explosive in Paliwoda. He was assigned to Fort Campbell.

Born and raised in Gautier, fishing and golf were his favorite activities.

Brosh also visited family in Colorado last month and went snow skiing for the first time. He quickly picked up snowboarding.

“He could always make anybody smile, and he impacted everyone he met,” said Jamie Brosh, a sister. “He would help anybody that he could. He was a good man. He made the whole family proud of him.

He’s our little hero. He has done a lot in 22 years that most people can’t say they’ve done.”

He also is survived by his father, James Brosh, and his mother, Barbara Brosh.