Army Pfc. Collier E. Barcus

Died July 8, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of McHenry, Ill.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; killed July 8 during a mortar attack on the Iraqi National Guard Headquarters in Baghdad.

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Illinois family mourns soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

McHENRY, Ill. — Sandy Barcus said she knew when she woke up in the middle of the night that something terrible had happened to her son.

A military officer arrived at her home hours later on Thursday to say Collier Edwin Barcus, 21, had been killed in Iraq after insurgents launched mortars at the Iraqi National Guard building in Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad.

The soldier, who had been stationed in Iraq with the Army’s 1st Infantry Division since January 2003, was expected to return home on leave July 28.

“We’re still in shock trying to grasp the reality that we’re never going to hug him or kiss him or shake his hand again,” said Sandy Barcus.

The Department of Defense has not yet publicly confirmed Barcus’ death, and a spokeswoman said Sunday she had no information to release about him.

Family members said Barcus was a fearless child who loved exploring his wooded neighborhood and fishing in the nearby Fox River.

“I remember he decided to learn how to rappel by jumping out of his bedroom window on the second story,” said his uncle, George Fueschl of Hoffman Estates.

Barcus finished high school on a Wyoming ranch, where he was home-schooled and learned ranching skills, and he hoped to return there someday to own his own ranch.

Two of his cowboy hats hang on his mother’s living room wall.

Sandy Barcus said her son decided on Sept. 11, 2001, to join the military after watching the terrorist attacks.

“He told me he enlisted in the Army that day because he had to do something,” she said.

The family stayed in touch with Barcus in Iraq through letters, e-mails and phone calls. Sandy Barcus said her son never complained about the time he had spent in Iraq, or the conditions there.

“He believed in what he was doing and wanted to be there,” she said. “He believed the Iraqi people needed to be free.”

On June 13 — for his 21st birthday — the family talked to Barcus while holding his picture near a birthday cake. His nephew blew out the candles.