Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Tully

Died August 23, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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33, of Falls Creek, Pa.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Lewis, Wash.; died Aug. 23 in Baghdad of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Sgt. 1st Class Adrian M. Elizalde.

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Western Pa. soldier dies in Iraq

PITTSBURGH — A western Pennsylvania soldier died Thursday in Iraq, his family and the Defense Department said.

Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Tully, 33, of Falls Creek, died of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive that also killed Sgt. 1st Class Adrian M. Elizalde, 30, of North Bend, Ind., according to the Defense Department. Both were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Tully’s father, John Tully, said his son wanted to be a career soldier, joining the Marine Corps when he turned 18 and joining the Army four years later. He became a Ranger, then was selected to become a Green Beret.

“He always had aspirations to be the very best and he achieved his goal when he became a Green Beret,” his father said Saturday.

Tully was on his second tour in Iraq, where he was serving as a combat medic. He had been in Iraq for about six weeks, his father said.

John Tully said his older son, Sgt. 1st Class John R. Tully, 36, is also serving in Iraq and will accompany his brother’s body home.

“There are boys out there dying, and girls dying, and they need to be supported wholeheartedly and not just because you feel it for the moment,” John Tully said.

Tully, a 1992 graduate of Brockway High School, is survived by a son, Slade Tully, 12.