Army Sgt. Travis M. Arndt

Died September 21, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Bozeman, Mont.; assigned to the 163rd Cavalry Troop, 116th Brigade Combat Team, 42nd Infantry Division, Montana Army National Guard, Missoula, Mont.; killed Sept. 21 in a vehicle accident during convoy operations in Kirkuk, Iraq.

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Good-natured soldier loved outdoors, say friends

The Associated Press

Travis M. Arndt loved to drive in the mountains in his Jeep. He loved long, hot afternoons diving off the rocks on the Missouri River. He loved hiking and snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountain Front.

“He was a really good kid,” said Tina Price, mother of one of Travis’ best friends.

“He was a happy-go-lucky, smiling-all-the-time kid, a really fun guy to be around.”

Arndt, 23, of Bozeman, Mont., was killed Sept. 21 in a vehicle accident in Kirkuk. He was assigned to Missoula.

A 2001 high school graduate, he had been taking classes at Montana State University. He wanted to become a football coach or a police officer.

“Travis had a contagious laugh,” said his father, Mark Arndt.

“He could change the mood in a room from somber to joyous. My son was somebody everybody admired.”

Arndt was an amateur boxer and he lifted weights, especially the parallel squat and power clean. He had planned to come home on leave in October to surprise his girlfriend, Lindsay Logan, on her birthday.

“I honestly believe he planned to ask her to marry him,” said his stepbrother, Steve Salazar.

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Friends, family say goodbye to Great Falls guardsman

The Associated Press

GREAT FALLS — Montana’s latest soldier to die in Iraq was remembered Saturday as a selfless man with a great sense of humor who never backed away from a challenge.

“Travis died doing what he chose to do,” said James Morin, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at which several hundred mourners gathered to memorialize Sgt. Travis Arndt. “He served his country with great dedication and honor. And now his time on this mortal Earth is done.”

Arndt, 23, was killed Sept. 21 when the armored vehicle transporting him rolled over in Kirkuk. A gunner, Arndt was sitting on top of the vehicle when it rolled, and was crushed after getting caught in the netting, said his stepbrother, Steve Salazar of Great Falls.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer was among the mourners. Many were in uniform, including a contingent from the Army Reserve 889th Quartermaster Company, which returned from Iraq in April 2004.

“This is so sad because he was so young, but they all are these days,” 1st Sgt. Glen Stinar said. “And it’s the go-getters we lose because they accept the risks as part of the price of getting things done.”

Arndt was buried with full military honors at Highland Cemetery. Sobs wracked mourners as an honor guard saluted him with gunshots and a bugler played “Taps.”

Gregg Dart, the head football coach at Great Falls High, remembered Arndt as a selfless young man with a “delightful” sense of humor.

He told of a football game in Billings several years ago in which the team’s opponents had mounted a healthy drive late in the game, then called a time-out before an upcoming touchdown.

“Coach, I think they’re chickening out,” Arndt told him.

The remark stayed on Dart’s chalkboard for the next three seasons.

“Travis always thought first of his teammates, both on the field and off,” he said.

Adj. Gen. Randy Mosley, head of the Montana National Guard, said Saturday’s funeral wasn’t his first, but he wished it was his last.

“Today, we bury a fallen soldier, and I grieve as though Travis was my own. ... I can’t rest until I have all my soldiers and airmen home safe,” he said.