Army Sgt. Vincent L.C. Owens

Died March 1, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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21, of Fort Smith, Ark.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died March 1 at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained earlier that day when enemy forces attacked his vehicle using direct fire in Yosuf Khel.

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Family: Patriotism led Owens to join Army

The Associated Press

SPIRO, Okla. — The family of a soldier with Oklahoma ties who died in Afghanistan says he joined the Army out of a sense of patriotism.

The Department of Defense reported that Sgt. Vincent Owens died March 1 at Forward Operating Base Sharana, Afghanistan, after his transport vehicle was attacked.

Owens was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.

His hometown was listed as Fort Smith, Ark., but the family said he grew up in LeFlore County, Okla.

Owens’ uncle, Gary Hope of Spiro, says Owens had left for Afghanistan on Feb. 14 for his second tour there.

Owens had been married to a Fort Smith woman for only a few weeks, his family said.

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Soldier wanted ‘to be somebody’

The Associated Press

Vincent L.C. Owens was the type of guy who “could just look at a textbook and take a test,” and he planned to put that talent to work in a military career, said his uncle, Gary Hope.

“He was a great kid,” Hope said. “He was never in trouble, and he was very smart, a good student.”

Owens attended schools in Pocola, Okla., where he played football in high school, he said.

The 21-year-old from Fort Smith, Ark., died at Forward Operating Base Sharana on March 1 — about two weeks after arriving in Afghanistan — of wounds from enemy fire in Yosuf Khel. He was assigned to Fort Campbell and previously served in Iraq.

Relatives said Owens was easy-going and kind, rarely got into mischief, and joined the Army in August 2007 because he was patriotic and wanted “to be somebody.”

He’d married his fiancee, Kaitlyn, weeks before deploying and planned to have a bigger ceremony when he returned, said friend Gabe London, who used to ride motorcycles with Owens.

Owens’ survivors include his stepson, Paxton; his mother, Sheila, and father, Keith; a sister; and three brothers.