Army Cpl. Brian L. Chevalier

Died March 14, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Athens, Ga.; assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.; died March 14 in Mufrek, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near him.

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Improvised explosive device kills soldier from Georgia

The Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga. — A 21-year-old soldier from Athens died in Iraq of wounds when he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated March 14, the U.S. Army said March 16.

Army Cpl. Brian L. Chevalier was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based in Fort Lewis, Wash., the Army said.

“He enlisted in the Army because he wanted to make more out of his life,” said his father, Rick Chevalier of Crooksville, Ohio. “I was proud of him and still am, but I wish he would’ve found something that wasn’t dangerous.”

The Army said Chevalier was mortally wounded in Mufrek, a suburb of Baqouba, about 30 miles northeast of Baghdad.

Rick Chevalier said his son left Ohio with his mother when he was 6 years old, and that they lived in Florida, Tennessee and Arkansas before settling in Athens.

Rick Chevalier said his son would visit him for months at a time, but lived mostly with his mother.

He said his son told him last month, “Don’t worry, Dad, it’s not really that bad over here. It’s not like people are trying to kill you every day.”

“I don’t understand why we have to have so many of our troops over there, to blow the country up and try to rebuild it,” said Rick Chevalier, who opposes the war. “We’re wasting a lot of our people, when the troops could be here doing things for this country instead of doing things for people who are killing them.”

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Fort Lewis soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT LEWIS, Wash. — A 21-year-old Army corporal, part of a Fort Lewis-based Stryker brigade, has died in Iraq of wounds suffered when an explosive detonated near his armored vehicle, the Pentagon said March 16.

Brian L. Chevalier, of Athens, Ga., died March 14 in Mufrek, near Baqouba, about 35 miles north of Baghdad. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Chevalier arrived at Fort Lewis in January 2006 and died in his first deployment to Iraq.

He was the 14th member of his brigade to be killed since it deployed to Iraq last summer, The News Tribune reported.

Chevalier is survived by a 5-year-old daughter and his parents, officials said.

A memorial ceremony was scheduled March 20 at the Fort Lewis Main Post Chapel.

He is the 91st Fort Lewis soldier to die in the Iraq war, the newspaper said.