Army Master Sgt. Scott M. Carney

Died August 24, 2007 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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37, of Ankeny, Iowa; assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa Army National Guard; died Aug. 24 of wounds sustained in a non-combat-related incident in Herat, Afghanistan. Also killed was Sgt. 1st Class Daniel E. Miller.

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Soldiers from Sheridan met in Afghanistan

By Kathy Thompson

The (Newark) Advocate

THORNVILLE — Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Edward Miller and Master Sgt. Class Scott M. Carney met in Afghanistan and discovered they had something in common; they both graduated from Sheridan High School.

The two now share the same fate, as well. The two soldiers were killed when their Humvee crashed in Afghanistan.

Miller, 43, originally from Thornville and now of Rineyville, Ky., and Carney, 37, originally of Somerset and now of Ankeny, Iowa, died after the Humvee they were riding in rolled over during convoy operations near Herat, Afghanistan, on Friday. The crash is under investigation.

Miller was assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan., and Carney was with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division of the Iowa Army National Guard.

Both men were graduates of Sheridan High School — Miller in 1982 and Carney in 1988 — and the pair had become fast friends after their arrival in Afghanistan and learned they attended the same high school.

Miller’s family believes the two men meeting was meant to be.

“We think that they met for a reason,” said Shelly Kaufman, Miller’s sister. “We know that they were a great comfort to each other so far from their families and loved ones. It gives us some peace knowing they were there for each other.”

Daniel Miller

Miller had been in the military for the past 23 years and his father, Harold, remembers his son’s love of reading, playing little league ball, history, playing in the band and being in the drama club in high school.

“We got in the car one summer to go on a three-week vacation and asked Dan where he wanted to go,” Harold smiles, his eyes misty with tears. “He hopped in and we were off to travel the Sherman trail.”

Miller’s mother, Susan, smiled as that memory comes back to her.

“I remember he had hurt his leg that summer and was on crutches, but it sure didn’t stop him from climbing a hill to see how Sherman had positioned his men,” Susan said. “He loved history and was military through and through.”

Susan also remembers how the family would send Miller candy while stationed in the Middle East that he kept in a pants pocket for the children of the area.

“That stopped when he told us the kids wanted pens,” Susan smiles. “So, we sent boxes and boxes of pens.”

Miller and his wife, Ann, have six children — Michaela, 13, Lucas, 9, Maggie, 7, Dominic, 4, Marianna, 2, and Lucy, seven months.

Lucy was born several weeks after Miller left for Afghanistan, but he was able to come home in June and spend a couple of weeks with his family and see his parents.

“It was the one time I knew I could just pick up the phone and call him and hear his voice,” Susan says. “I’ll miss that.”

Harold said his son was “destined to be a military man.”

“His whole life, that’s what he wanted,” Harold said. “We’re proud of him for that. We’re proud of all the heroes over there fighting for freedom. Dan was doing something he believed was the right thing to do and we’ll always support his decision to do that.”

Kaufman said she and her family will miss her brother’s easy smile, love of a good prank and his upbeat attitude.

“That’s what he would want from us all now,” Kaufmann said. “To be upbeat and remember how much he loved all of us, especially his Anne and the kids.”

Miller is survived by his wife, four daughters, two sons, his parents, two brothers, Dusty (Ruth) Miller, of Thornville, and Fred Miller of Somerset, and his sister, Shelly.

Funeral arrangements are with Nelson-Edelen-Bennett Funeral Homes in Vine Grove, Kentucky.

Scott Carney

Carney enlisted a year after graduating high school and served in Germany and Korea before leaving active duty in October 1999.

But his love for the military brought him back in December 2000, when he joined the Iowa Army National Guard, and was qualified as a supply Noncommissioned Officer. Carney transferred to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team in November 2004 and arrived in Afghanistan in May this year. His unit provided advanced combat training to the Afghan National Army and Afghan Police.

While family members asked that they be allowed to grieve for Scott privately, they did issue a statement through the Iowa National Guard.

“It is with great sadness that we learned of the death of our beloved husband and father, Scott Michael Carney, during combat in Afghanistan,” the family wrote. “Scott died doing what he loved, serving his country and protecting the freedom that we enjoy and providing the people of Afghanistan with the opportunity for freedom.”

Col. Tim Orr, of the Iowa National Guard, said Carney was a model solider and loved what he was doing.

“The Army was his life,” Orr said. “He loved his family dearly and was a great family member. He was also part of the team.”

Carney’s brother-in-law, Jamie Mahne, of Jackson, Miss., said Carney was a model husband and father who loved to take his 12-year-old twin sons fishing at Saylorville Lake.

“He was truly an all-American dad,” Mahne said. “He truly was a saint.”

Carney leaves behind his wife, Jeni L. Carney; twins sons, Jacob and Justin; his parents, Geneva S. and John K. Carney, of Somerset; brothers, Craig (Sharon) of Woodbridge, Va., Russell, of Somerset; Jason (Jennifer), of Somerset; and sister, Lisa Robinson.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Westover Funeral Home in Des Moines, Iowa.

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Iowa soldier buried in Des Moines

The Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa — An Iowa Army National Guard soldier was buried Aug. 31, one week after he was killed in Afghanistan.

Master Sgt. Scott Carney, 37, of Ankeny died Aug. 24 when the Humvee in which he was the gunner rolled over near Herat. The accident, which also killed a soldier from Ohio, is under investigation.

Carney’s funeral service was held at St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, and he was buried at Highland Memory Gardens Cemetery.

While cars drove by with music blaring, more than 50 people stood quietly on the sidewalks leading to the church entrance, each holding an American flag. Some could be seen reading the obituary printed on the back of the program.

“Scott was living out what God created him to do,” the Rev. Larry Hoffmann said at the funeral. “He was loving. He was caring. He was serving.”

Afterward, as Carney’s casket was led to the hearse, 80-hear-old Nancy Hughes of Des Moines looked on from the sidewalk, gently crying into her hands. She didn’t know him. She just decided to stop.

“I don’t have to know him,” she said, adding later, “This makes your stomach turn.”

At the cemetery, friends described Carney as having an elusive sense of humor, most of the time straight-faced.

“He took his military career very seriously, but also his family,” said Master Sgt. Jim Campbell, a friend who served with him in the Guard. “He was a good man and a good soldier.”

Carney was assigned to the National Guard’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, in Boone. His unit arrived in Afghanistan in May, and provided advanced combat training to the Afghan army and Afghan police.

Carney was born in Somerset, Ohio, and graduated from Sheridan High School in Thornville, Ohio. He attended Upper Iowa University and joined the military in 1989.

He is survived by his wife and twin sons.