Army Sgt. Anthony J. Schober

Died May 12, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Reno, Nev.; assigned to the 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died May 12 in Al Taqa, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his patrol was attacked by enemy forces using automatic fire and explosives. Also killed were Sgt. 1st Class James D. Connell Jr., Pfc. Daniel W. Courneya and Pfc. Christopher E. Murphy.

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Army says Gardnerville sergeant killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

RENO, Nev. — Army officials have notified the parents of former Gardnerville resident Anthony Schober that he was among the soldiers killed May 12 in an attack on his unit’s outpost south of Baghdad in which three other soldiers are believed to have been captured.

“We don’t want to talk about it right now,” his grandfather, Robert Asper, said May 17 from Rohnert Park, Calif. “We just found out about it. As far as we know, it’s true.”

Three other members of Company D, 4th Battalion, of the 31st Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the “Polar Bears,” also died in the Saturday ambush and were identified immediately. Relatives say Schober was identified by DNA testing. He is survived by his mother Roberta and adoptive father Edward of Carson City and two sisters.

Attempts to reach them May 18 were not immediately successful.

“This is a tragedy. Sgt. Schober served our country with honor and the news of his death saddens us all in Nevada and across the nation,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. “My thoughts and prayers go out to Sgt. Schober’s family and friends as they mourn this heartbreaking loss.”

Schober, 23, was on his fourth tour in Iraq.

Three other members of the unit, part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, were captured and reportedly are being held by al-Qaida terrorists.

Schober, who was on his third tour of duty in Iraq, was leading a squad trying to prevent insurgents from laying roadside bombs at night when the ambush occurred along a palm-lined rural road near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Schober’s squad was attacked while at an observation post composed of two Humvees surrounded by concertina wire that had been breached. They were watching for insurgents placing roadside bombs about 800 yards from their patrol base in a rural villa.

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Father of Nevada soldier killed in Iraq talks about son

The Associated Press

CARSON CITY, Nev. — The tearful father of a slain northern Nevada soldier said May 18 that the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 inspired his son, Sgt. Anthony Schober, to join the Army at age 17. Schober died in an attack on his unit’s outpost south of Baghdad.

Schober, 23, in his third Iraq tour, was one of four soldiers killed in the ambush May 12. Three other soldiers are believed to have been captured.

“At the age of 17 he came to me and said he wanted to join the Army,” said his father, Ed Schober of Carson City. “He was affected by the 9/11 incident. I asked whether he was sure about this and really wanted to do it. He said yes, so I signed the papers.”

Ed Schober, joined by other family members at a news conference, said his son hoped for an Army assignment in Italy following the completion of his current Iraq tour. In his current tour, he had been in Iraq since July 2006 and was scheduled to leave in October.

“Not once did he mention he wanted to leave the military,” the father said, adding that his son had talked about making a decision on whether to make the Army a career following his Italy tour.

Sgt. Schober, who enlisted in 2001, had previously served in Iraq from April 2003 to March 2004, and from January to June 2005. He was with Company D, 4th Battalion, of the 31st Infantry Regiment, nicknamed the “Polar Bears.”

Gov. Jim Gibbons ordered flags flown at half-staff at the Nevada Capitol. Noting Schober’s three tours in Iraq, Gibbons said he “exemplified honor and love of country.”

Besides his father, who adopted him when he was five, Schober is survived by his mother and two sisters.

“This is a tragedy. Sgt. Schober served our country with honor and the news of his death saddens us all in Nevada and across the nation,” Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a statement. “My thoughts and prayers go out to Sgt. Schober’s family and friends as they mourn this heartbreaking loss.”

The missing members of Schober’s unit, part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division, were reportedly being held by al-Qaida terrorists. Thousands of U.S. troops, backed by aircraft, intelligence agents and dog teams, are involved in a search for the missing soldiers.

Schober was leading a squad trying to prevent insurgents from laying roadside bombs at night when the ambush occurred along a palm-lined rural road near Youssifiyah, 12 miles south of Baghdad.

Schober’s squad was attacked while at an observation post composed of two Humvees surrounded by concertina wire that had been breached. They were watching for insurgents placing roadside bombs about 800 yards from their patrol base in a rural villa. Shell casings found around the two vehicles indicated the soldiers had put up a fight.

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Loved ones bid farewell to soldier in Carson City

The Associated Press

CARSON CITY, Nev. — A northern Nevada soldier who was killed earlier this month in Iraq has been remembered as being brave, loyal and a warrior.

The memorial ceremony in Carson City’s Mills Park for Army Sergeant Anthony Schober was attended by about 200 people, including Gov. Jim Gibbons and Congressman Dean Heller.

The 23-year-old sergeant was killed May 12 in an ambush south of Baghdad and was buried May 24 in Santa Rosa, Calif., where he grew up. He lived in Gardnerville, attended Douglas High School in Minden for two years, then moved to Reno.

In his remarks, Heller said, “We honor a warrior who fought our nation’s enemies.” And he added, “We pray our country will always be worthy of the sacrifice he made.”

Gibbons added, “We can never be the land of the free without being the home of the brave.”

Schober, 23, of Gardnerville, was serving his third tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed along with four other 10th Mountain Division soldiers south of Baghdad. Two other soldiers remain missing.

Though Schober’s uncle Robert Schober had agreed to be master of ceremonies for the event, the task proved too daunting for the grieving man. Whenever his voice broke and he was unable to go on, Sen. John Ensign’s representative, Matthew Baril, took over.

Heller presented a flag that had flown over the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and a proclamation signed by himself, Sen. Harry Reid and Ensign to Schober’s father Edward.

“I believe someday you will be together again,” Heller said.