Army Sgt. Scott L. Kirkpatrick

Died August 11, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Reston, Va.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died Aug. 11 of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device during combat operations in Arab Jabour, Iraq. Also killed were Staff Sgt. William D. Scates, Sgt. Andrew W. Lancaster and Spc. Justin O. Penrod.

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Reston soldier one of five killed Saturday in Iraq

The Associated Press

RESTON, Va. — A Reston soldier was one of five killed Aug. 11 in Iraq.

Sgt. Scott L. Kirkpatrick, 26, died in Arab Jabour, Iraq of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device, the Department of Defense said Aug. 14.

The slam poet turned “rock hard soldier” kept a collection of rocks and bricks that were thrown at him mostly by children during his first tour of duty in Iraq, his uncle, Roy Deppa, told The Washington Post.

The rocks, usually thrown by children who only moments before had been laughing with him, “piqued his ironic sense of humor,” Deppa said.

Kirkpatrick joined the Army 2" years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks hoping to go to Afghanistan. Instead, he was sent twice to Iraq.

He married his longtime girlfriend, Christy Blasingame, while on leave from his first tour. They spent more than a year together in Georgia before he left for Iraq again May 11.

Also killed Aug. 11 were Staff Sgt. William D. Scates, 31, of Oklahoma City; Sgt. Andrew W. Lancaster, 23, of Stockton, Ill.; and Spc. Justin O. Penrod, 24, of Mahomet, Ill., the Defense Department said.

The soldiers were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, out of Ft. Stewart, Ga.