Army Pfc. Cleston C. Raney

Died March 31, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Rupert, Idaho; assigned to the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; killed March 31 when an improvised explosive device hit his armored personnel carrier in Habbaniyah, Iraq.

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Family angry, sad at death of Idaho soldier in Iraq

By Rebecca Boone

Associated Press

A soldier from southern Idaho was among five killed in Iraq this week when a bomb detonated under their armored personnel carrier.

Cleston C. Raney, 20, of Rupert, Idaho, and the other four Fort Riley soldiers were in Malahma, an area in the Sunni Triangle, when the bomb exploded March 31 under their M-113. It was the deadliest day for the Army base, which has lost 35 soldiers since the war began.

Raney’s family, also from Rupert, said that when Raney decided to join the military, they tried to get him to reconsider or at least postpone his enlistment.

“But once we realized the strength of his convictions, the family put our own fears on the back burner to support his sense of purpose and overwhelming need to make a difference 100 percent,” they said in a statement released through the Idaho National Guard.

Family members did not release their names and said they would not accept interviews.

“Ours is a time of mixed emotions. First and foremost, pride. Always pride for our boy’s courage, honor and a belief in a level of duty we may never comprehend,” the family said.

Family members said they were angry at the situation and knew they would never get acceptable answers, but mostly felt sorrow over Raney’s death.

“It has left a deep heartache that makes it difficult to swallow or even breathe. Cleston was a quiet, respectful young man not yet old enough to buy his first beer or to put a coin in his first slot machine if that would have been his inclination, yet he was old enough to vote and to give his life for the numerous freedoms each of us as Americans take for granted each day,” they said.

“Our hope now in the wake of our pain and devastation is that some drastic changes come soon so that not even one more American family have to experience the loss and desperate sadness that Cleston’s untimely death has left us with. Our lives are forever changed,” they said.

The Defense Department identified the other four soldiers as 1st Lt. Doyle M. Hufstedler, 25, of Abilene, Texas; Spc. Sean R. Mitchell, 24, of Youngsville, Pa.; Spc. Michael G. Karr Jr., 23, of San Antonio, Texas; and Pvt. Brandon L. Davis, 20, of Cumberland, Md.

All were members of the 1st Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division.