Army Sgt. Michael K. Clark

Died October 7, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

24, of Sacramento, Calif.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died Oct. 7 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds sustained when he encountered small arms fire while on dismounted patrol.

---

Carson soldier dies from Iraq combat wounds

The Associated Press

FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Fort Carson soldier died last week after he was wounded in combat in Iraq, the military said Wednesday.

Sgt. Michael K. Clark, 24, of Sacramento, Calif., was wounded by small-arms fire while on dismounted patrol Oct. 7 in Mosul.

A military statement said U.S. and Iraqi security forces had been called to a house that an al-Qaida in Iraq member had entered wearing a suicide vest. As they approached the house, they came under small-arms fire.

Clark was assigned to Fort Carson’s 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

He joined the Army in August 2004 and was on his second tour in Iraq.

Clark had received two Army Commendation Medals and other decorations.

He is the 243rd Fort Carson killed in the Iraq war.

---

Sergeant ‘loved life with a passion’

The Associated Press

Sgt. Michael K. Clark loved to ride dirt bikes and owned a custom-built motorcycle and a 1986 Mustang GT. He enjoyed snowboarding and mountain biking.

“He loved to go fast,” said his mother, Cherie Clark.

Clark, 24, of Sacramento, Calif., died Oct. 7 in Mosul of wounds from small-arms fire. He was assigned to Fort Carson.

He joined the Army four years ago and was on his second deployment to Iraq. He had been accepted to the Army Ranger school.

“My son loved life with a passion,” said Cherie Clark. “He had so much energy and life.”

When he shattered his hip socket in a dirt bike accident after his first deployment, she had asked if he could use his injury to not go back. But he felt that he had a duty to his fellow soldiers.

“If something happened, I couldn’t live with myself,” he told her.

He received a medal for a February incident in which he pulled four soldiers from a Humvee that had been attacked and hit by an IED, his mother said.

Three days before his death, he marked his fifth wedding anniversary with wife Nalini. Their son, Lucas, is 4.

“They were everything to him,” Cherie Clark said.