Army Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe

Died June 28, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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37, of Linden, N.J.; assigned to Battery B, 3rd Battalion, 18th Field Artillery Regiment, Fort Sill, Okla.; killed in action in Iraq sometime between June 25 and June 28.

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Philippe and Pfc. Kevin C. Ott, with the same unit, had been listed as missing in action after they failed to respond to a radio check June 25 south of Balad, Iraq. A search party was sent to the location of their last radio transmission, but was unable to find the soldiers. Their remains were located in Taji, Iraq, on June 28.

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The eldest of nine children, Sgt. 1st Class Gladimir Philippe called home from Iraq often and counseled his little brother to swear off girls and keep his head on straight.

“He was like my best friend and my brother at the same time,” said Fedlyn Philippe, 16, Gladimir’s youngest brother. “He was a person I could just talk to. I looked up to him a lot.”

Philippe’s body and that of a fellow soldier were found May 28 near Baghdad. The soldiers were reported missing three days earlier from the town of Balad, 25 miles north of the Iraqi capital.

Philippe was part of an artillery unit based at Fort Sill. He enlisted in the Army in 1988 after graduating from high school.

The Army “was something (Gladimir) chose to do,” his brother said. “He always told me not to join. He told me to play basketball and keep my head strong and don’t worry about girls, and to do good in school.”