Army Spc. Craig S. Ivory

Died August 17, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Port Matilda, Pa.; assigned to the 501st Forward Support Company, 173rd Airborne Brigade, Southern European Task Force, Vicenza, Italy; died of a non-combat-related cause Aug. 17 in Homberg University Hospital, Germany. Ivory had been medically evacuated from Kuwait on Aug. 12.

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It wasn’t until he became a medic that Spc. Craig S. Ivory found his niche.

“Initially when he went into the Army, they made him a mechanic, which he hated,” said his father, Patrick J. Ivory. “He re-enlisted to become a medic.”

The 26-year-old from Port Matilda, Pa., died Aug. 17 after suffering a stroke while serving in Iraq. He was based in Vicenza, Italy.

Although he was not in a combat unit, Craig Ivory often was among the first medical responders when soldiers were injured in combat. He hoped to become a physician assistant after completing his service, his father said.

As a high school student, Craig Ivory lettered in football and track and field and played clarinet and bass clarinet in the school’s concert and symphonic bands. He joined the Army in January 1997 and re-enlisted twice.

— Associated Press