Army Sgt. Robert M. Carr

Died March 13, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Warren, Ohio; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died March 13 in Baghdad of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

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Ohio soldier killed by explosion in Iraq

The Associated Press

FOWLER, Ohio — A soldier from northeast Ohio was killed in Iraq when an improvised explosive device detonated beneath the armored vehicle he was driving, his father said.

Army Sgt. Robert Carr, 22, died early March 13, his father, Jeffrey Carr, said March 14.

He was expected home on leave to celebrate his April 10 wedding anniversary with wife Nina. She received word of her husband’s death while at her father-in-law’s home in Fowler, 15 miles north of Youngstown.

“I was here by myself, and two soldiers came in full dress uniform. As soon as I saw them in uniform, I knew. It was like my worst nightmare coming true,” she said.

She said she spent hours each day sending instant e-mail messages to her husband, who was serving his second tour in Iraq.

“Every time he went out, I said, ‘Be safe,’ and he said ‘I will,’ and we always said ‘I love you.’ Then he said he will call when he got back from his mission,” she said.

Carr graduated from Champion High School in May 2002 and left for basic training two days later. Carr’s older brother, Matthew, had joined the Army earlier.

“He wanted to be a career soldier,” said his mother, Christine Wortman. “He wanted to join for 20 years. I told him we should start at four years and go from there.”

Matthew Carr, who has been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and now is stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., said he initially did not want his younger brother to enlist.

“I was just coming back from a tour in Iraq and didn’t want to see any of my relatives go and see what I had seen and experienced. But he was hardheaded and did what he wanted.”

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Ohio sergeant based at Fort Carson dies in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT CARSON, Colo. — A Fort Carson-based soldier from Warren, Ohio, was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb, the military said March 16.

Sgt. Robert M. Carr, 22, died in Baghdad on March 13 when the device exploded near his vehicle in Baghdad, a statement said.

He was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

Family members told The Gazette of Colorado Springs outside the post that Carr joined the Army right after high school and was completing his second tour in Iraq. Jeff Carr, Robert Carr’s father, said his son was looking forward to settling into married life and pursuing his dream of becoming a professional fighter after leaving the Army this year.

“He was supposed to come home for two weeks leave” for the couple’s one-year anniversary next month, Nina Carr, his wife said.

Chris Wortman, his mother, said her son played football and lifted weights competitively while in high school and started meeting with an Army recruiter while still in his early teens.

His older brother enlisted before him, Wortman said, and Robert became so focused on following that he would eat prepackaged military meals even while at home.

Sgt. Matt Carr, 26, was returning from Iraq as his brother enlisted. The elder Carr said he talked to his brother about what he had seen while there, but it did not change his mind.

“I thought it was an honor” that he chose the same path, Matt Carr said. “I did my best to guide him.”

During a planned career as a professional wrestler or as an “ultimate” fighter, which involves a combination of martial arts, Matt Carr said his brother told him he wanted him in his corner.

At the end of last month, the post in Colorado Springs had reported 189 deaths in Iraq.