Army Sgt. Lee D. Todacheene

Died April 6, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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29, of Farmington, N.M.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 77th Armored Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Schweinfurt, Germany; killed April 6 when mortar fire hit his guard post in Balad, Iraq.

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Funeral services announced for Navajo soldier

Associated Press

PHOENIX — Funeral services for a 29-year-old Army medic killed in Iraq were scheduled for Monday on the Navajo reservation.

The services for Sgt. Lee Duane Todacheene were set for 10 a.m. at St. Isabel Church in Lukachukai, Ariz.

Todacheene was killed April 5 in Balad when mortar fire hit his guard post, according to the Department of Defense.

A Navajo Nation member and nephew of Navajo Vice President Frank Dayish Jr., Todacheene is believed to be the first Navajo killed in the Iraq war.

He was a member of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division medic unit and had been stationed in Germany.

Todacheene is survived by his wife, Jacqueline, and his 8- and 9-year-old sons.

“There were some many great qualities about my brother. He was proud to be in the U.S. Army and a medic. He was proud to be a Navajo,” Rydell Todacheene said. “He was a quiet man, he was a strong man, a gentleman. He respected himself and everybody. He was generous and kind, and he loved his family above everything else.”