Army Spc. Chad H. Drake

Died September 7, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Garland, Texas; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Sept. 7 when his patrol vehicle came under attack by small-arms fire in Baghdad.

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Even though he was shipping out to war, Chad H. Drake told his family not to worry. "He said, 'You have your job, and this is mine,'" said his wife, Randi Drake. He was more concerned about "his girls": his wife, daughter, sister and mother. Drake, 23, of Garland, Texas, died Sept. 7 when his patrol vehicle was hit by small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was based at Fort Hood, Texas, and left for Iraq on March 13, his 23rd birthday. A 1999 high school graduate, his future plans included possibly becoming a teacher and coaching middle school football. He was to receive a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for an earlier act of valor: helping rescue two pilots when his Humvee was ambushed. He got out of the vehicle and returned twice to free the driver and hatch gunner. Drake didn't realize that he had been wounded in the leg and neck until later. He thought at the time of the ambush that the cold sensation on his neck was from the cold air of the Humvee. "He was well-respected," his wife said. "People looked up to him." He also is survived by his daughter, Kaylee.

— Associated Press