Army Pvt. Scott A. Miller

Died June 9, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Casper, Wyo., died June 9 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds sustained from enemy small-arms fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.

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Familes recall two Wyoming soldiers, airman killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Relatives remember the two soldiers from Wyoming and an airman stationed at F.E. Warren Air Force Base as at Cheyenne who were recently killed in Iraq as men devoted to their families and their country.

Both Pvt. Scott A. Miller, 20, of Casper, and Staff Sgt. Brian M. Long, 32, of Burns, were part of Stryker units out of Fort Lewis, Wash. Airman 1st Class Eric M. Barnes, 20, of Lorain, Ohio, had been stationed at F.E. Warren since 2005, according to the Defense Department.

Miller died June 9 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds from enemy small arms fire. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.

Miller received his diploma from Natrona County High School in Casper in 2004, then enlisted in the Army in 2004 and reported to Fort Lewis later that year, eventually becoming a sniper, according to the Pentagon.

His grandmother, Mary Harris, said he enjoyed eating, hunting for deer and taking her out to dinner, including a splurge at a Red Lobster when he was home on leave in March.

“Nobody, nobody wants to bury their children. Children are to bury us,” Harris said. “It’s incomprehensible, and it’s the mystery of life.”

Long, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, died in Baghdad on June 10 of wounds from an explosive ordnance.

Long, a former sailor who most recently lived in Roy, near Fort Lewis, reported to the post in December 2000 and was on his second assignment to Iraq. He leaves a wife, Brenda, and three children, Sydney, 7, Shelby, 3, and Sage, 1.

He regularly used a satellite link to read to his children before bed, relatives said.

Kristina Sheets, Long’s sister, said he was on his second yearlong tour of Iraq. She said he was expected to be home at the beginning of June, but said that his tour had been extended by about a month.

Sheets said the family has kept a clipping of a photograph that appeared in the official newspaper of Fort Lewis that shows Long handing a teddy bear to an Iraqi child whose father had been killed.

“There was a little boy over there starving,” Sheets said. “And my brother gave him his rations. He was just a good guy with a really big heart.”

Barnes was in an Air Force convoy that was attacked Sunday with an improvised explosive about 100 miles south of Baghdad. He died on the way to a medical facility in the Green Zone in Baghdad.

Barnes had volunteered for a second tour in Iraq, his father, Tom Barnes, said June 11.

“It was like the Air Force was made for Eric, and Eric was made for the Air Force,” Tom Barnes said. “He was very upbeat. He thought that the United States had done a lot of good going over there.”

Barnes joined the Air Force in May 2005. He was assigned later that year to the 90th Logistics Readiness Squadron at F.E. Warren.

“The loss of Airman Barnes weighs heavily on the hearts of our entire Warren family,” Col. Michael Carey, commander of the 90th Space Wing, said in a release. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Eric’s family, co-workers and friends during this difficult time.”

A memorial service for Barnes was scheduled for 1 p.m. June 14 on the Cheyenne air base.

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Family, friends remember soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

Army Pvt. Scott A. Miller was a burly country boy who liked hunting and good-natured pranks. He had a smile that lit up the room and “a heart just as big as Wyoming,” said Janet Dawson, Miller’s senior year English teacher.

“He had great big brown eyes and clear from the back of the room, when his eyes really started sparkling or twinkling, I knew he had thought of something that had to do with good-humored mischief,” said Dawson.

Miller, 20, of Casper, Wyo., was killed June 9 in Baqubah, Iraq, by small-arms fire. He was a 2004 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Lewis, Wash.

Miller was a big teddy bear, said his grandmother, Mary Harris.

He loved to go on dinner dates with her. When he came home for a visit in March, they went to a Red Lobster.

His smile made an impression on Melissa Henry, who taught Miller’s speech class. “He always had that little curled up grin, that little mischievous corner of your mouth.”

He also is survived by his parents, Bob and Suzi.

Mitch Hill remembered his friend as a cowboy at heart, who wore Cinch jeans and boots to school everyday. “He pulled off the perfect cowboy,” Hill said.