Army Spc. Eric R. Sieger

Died February 1, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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18, of Layton, Utah; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died Feb. 1 at Buritz, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle rolled over.

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Layton family mourns loss of son in Iraq

By Jennifer Dobner

The Associated Press

SALT LAKE CITY — A Layton man died from injuries suffered after his Bradley armored vehicle rolled into a ravine in Iraq, his family said Feb. 5.

Eric R. Sieger, 18, died Feb. 1, according to Army officers who came to the family home Feb. 2, mother Krista Sieger said.

The military confirmed the death in a news release Feb. 5 and said the rollover at Buritz was under investigation.

Officers said the rollover was an accident, Krista Sieger said. Several others were in the vehicle, but they did not suffer life-threatening injuries, she said.

Sieger said she was told her son, who was the driver, was alive when extricated from the vehicle and died later at a hospital.

“There are conflicting stories. I don’t even know which town in it happened in,” she said. “I’ve asked to talk to somebody, the survivors, a commander. It would be nice to know what happened, what were his last hours. I don’t think a Bradley just rolls over.”

Eric Sieger was one of 15 children and among seven kids adopted by Krista and Wolfgang Sieger. Eric joined the family at age 10.

“He was very outgoing, very friendly and fantastic people skills, but on the inside he was very insecure because he had suffered so much abuse,” Krista Sieger said. “When he came to us, he had been shuffled from place to place and was a rather difficult child.”

Home-schooled by his mother, Eric Sieger joined a Civil Air Patrol youth program as a teenager, which fueled his interest in the military. After completing his GED at age 17, he enlisted in the Army in April 2005, Krista Sieger said.

“It was a given he would join,” she said. “He loved being a soldier, he wanted to make it his career and planned to re-enlist.”

Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Hood, Texas, Eric Sieger was deployed to Iraq in October. He was scheduled for leave in March, and planned to come home to Layton to celebrate his 19th birthday, his mother said.

She said last spoke to her son a week before Feb. 5, promising to send him some family pictures.

The sight of Army officers at her door Feb. 2 was “a nightmare,” Krista Sieger said.

“We just got Eric to the point where we could see that he could be successful. He was a happy person and he was proud of what he was doing,” she said. “For a boy with such a tragic beginning in life, it’s such a tragic ending.”

The Siegers have three other children serving in the military — a son in the Air National Guard and two daughters in the Army. One daughter is in Iraq. The second is scheduled for deployment later this month.

For the first time, Krista Sieger says, she is worried about their safety.

“Even when Eric said he didn’t think he would come back, I didn’t worry,” she said. “I had so much confidence and faith. But you never really know.”