Army Sgt. Charles J. Webb

Died November 3, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Hamilton, Ohio; assigned to the 82nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Infantry Division (Mechanized), Bamberg, Germany; died Nov. 3 at the 31st Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad from wounds sustained earlier that day when an improvised explosive device detonated in Baghdad.

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Hamilton soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

HAMILTON, Ohio — An Ohio soldier was killed in Iraq after he was struck in the face by shrapnel from a bomb, family members said.

Sgt. Charles Joseph Webb, 22, of Hamilton, died Tuesday, his sister-in-law, Vanessa Foreman, said Wednesday. He had joined the Army shortly after graduating from Hamilton High School in June 2000.

“He signed up for the military to be able to go to college because he wanted to become a teacher,” she said.

Webb, who is survived by his wife, Stephanie, was in the 82nd Engineering Battalion, his family said. The Department of Defense did not release any information about the soldier.

“It’s been rough,” Barbara Webb, the soldier’s mother, said. “He was our youngest child, our only son.”

Webb’s sister, Teresa, said military authorities notified their mother of the death Wednesday morning. She said her brother was born in San Antonio, but the family moved to Hamilton when he was in the sixth grade.

Their father, Conley J. Webb, was a veteran of the Vietnam War and Desert Storm.

Webb’s sister said he was home for a two-week leave six weeks ago and was scheduled to return from Iraq in July 2005.

“He was in Iraq since January of 2004,” Foreman said. “He had been there for too long. He’s loved and he will be missed.”

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Soldier killed in Iraq buried on Veterans Day

HAMILTON, Ohio — A soldier killed last week by a roadside bomb in Iraq was eulogized at his funeral Thursday as a hero who gave his life for his country.

About two dozen veterans were among a crowd of nearly 400 people at the funeral service for Sgt. Charles J. Webb, 22. His family chose Veterans Day for the service, which was led by a military chaplain.

Lt. Col. Richard Genzman, the chaplain, told the audience that Webb — like the more than 1,000 other American soldiers who have died in Iraq — was a hero who died in the defense of freedom.

“He sacrificed everything for the safety of all Americans. He was simply an American hero that gave everything. We truly regret that he has died,” Genzman said.

Webb was killed when a bomb exploded as his patrol was traveling southwest of Baghdad, where he was serving with Company A of the 82nd Engineering Battalion.

Webb entered the Army shortly after his 2000 graduation from Hamilton High School in this southwest Ohio city. Officials of the school have said they plan to install engraved bricks in a public plaza there to honor Webb and two other graduates who have died in Army service within the past two years, one of them also slain in Iraq.

In addition, former neighbors of Webb are planning to establish a fund to plant a maple tree in his honor at the high school. Bill Robinson, whose family has lived on Webb’s street for more than 50 years, said residents want to provide a more lasting memory of Webb.

— Associated Press