Army Sgt. Kelly S. Morris

Died March 30, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Boise, Idaho; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died March 30 in Baghdad of injuries sustained from enemy small-arms fire.

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Boise soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press

FORT STEWART, Ga. — A Fort Stewart soldier killed by small-arms fire in Iraq has been identified as Sgt. Kelly Morris, 24, of Boise, Idaho.

The Army said Wednesday that Morris died March 30 in Baghdad. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment of the Fort Stewart-based 3rd Infantry Division.

Central Command at Fort MacDill Air Force Base in Florida told The Idaho Statesman in Boise that a man shot at soldiers patrolling in east Baghdad. The man fled into the crowd, according to soldiers at the scene, and soldiers searched a home in the area and detained five suspected terrorists.

Morris was born in Boise, and raised from the age of 7 by Bill and Lisa Lowery, said Idaho National Guard spokesman Tim Marsano. He attended Boise High School and graduated from Mountain Cove High.

“This is obviously a very difficult time for our family and for all who knew and loved Kelly,” Lisa Lowery said in a prepared statement. “There was something definitely special about him. When you met Kelly you knew you were meeting somebody who was going to affect your life in a positive way. He would have liked everybody to celebrate his life and not mourn his death, and would want us to be very strong at this difficult hour. Kelly will always have a special place in our hearts.”

Morris is the 10th soldier from Idaho to die in Iraq since the start of the war, and the 13th to die since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

He was the 17th soldier from the 3rd Infantry killed since its 19,000 troops deployed to Iraq in January for the division’s second tour of duty since the March 2003 invasion.

At least 1,542 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began.