Army Sgt. Howard Paul Allen

Died September 26, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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31, of Mesa, Ariz.; assigned to the 860th Military Police Company, Arizona Army National Guard, Phoenix; killed Sept. 26 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee in Baghdad.

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Soldier’s wife, unit mourn his death

Associated Press

Army Sgt. Howard P. Allen In Iraq, Howard P. Allen was in a situation that frustrated him

and at times depressed him.

Allen wrote Aug. 25: “You feel that bomb go off in your dreams, but it’s not your buddy this time but you.”

Allen, 31, of Mesa, Ariz., was killed Sept. 26 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was assigned to Phoenix.

“Sgt. Allen was a fine soldier, a wonderful husband, father, son, and friend to many. This is a tragic loss to our Arizona National Guard family,” said Maj. Gen. David P. Rataczak, adjutant general of the Arizona National Guard.

He graduated from high school in 1993 and was a member of both a school program for marketing studies and an anti-drunken driving organization.

He is survived by his wife, Patience, 3-year-old son and stepchildren ages 12 and 10.

“He’ll never see his son grow up. He’ll never be there to walk Caitlyn down the aisle when she gets married. He’ll never be here to teach Edwin how to drive,” his wife wrote.

“He’ll never be here for me to grow old with. He was my life. He was my love. He was my heart and soul. Never did I think that at the age of 31 I’d be a widow.”