Army Spc. Matthew C. Frantz

Died January 20, 2006 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Lafayette, Ind.; assigned to the 1st Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Jan. 20 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee during patrol operations in Huwijah, Iraq. Also killed were: Staff Sgt. Rickey Scott, Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan and Spc. Clifton J. Yazzie.

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Four 101st Airborne soldiers killed in Iraq

Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Four soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division were killed and one was injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their Humvee, the Army said Monday.

Staff Sgt. Rickey Scott, Sgt. Dennis J. Flanagan, Sgt. Clifton J. Yazzie and Spc. Matthew C. Frantz were killed in the attack Friday while patrolling near Hawijah, the Army said. The wounded soldier was not identified.

All were members of the 1st Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Campbell.

The deaths were the most in a single incident involving Fort Campbell soldiers since four were killed in November by a roadside bomb.

Scott, 33, of Columbus, Ga., was an infantryman assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. He joined the Army in November 1996 and arrived at Fort Campbell in June 2004.

Scott is survived by his wife, Niki Scott; son, Jatelin Scott of Bossier City, La.; and daughters Diamond Scott and Karlecia Scott, both of Leesville, La.; stepdaughter, Keriston Reddick; father, Rickey Stutson of Columbus, Ga.; and mother, Cynthia Snelling of Geneva, Ga.

Flanagan, 22, of Inverness, Fla., was an infantryman assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. He joined the Army in October 2001 and arrived at Fort Campbell in April 2002.

Flanagan is survived by his father and mother, Dennis and Patricia Flanagan of Inverness.

Yazzie, 23, of Fruitland, N.M., was an infantryman assigned to Company C, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. He joined the Army in November 2001 and arrived at Fort Campbell in July 2005. He was promoted posthumously.

Yazzie is survived by his wife, Michelle; 3-year-old daughter, Chynitta; 18-month-old son, Cayden; and father and mother, Clifford and Jeanette Yazzie of Fruitland.

His family told The Daily Times of Farmington, N.M., that Yazzie was on his second tour in Iraq.

Clifton and Michelle Yazzie would have celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary April 15. They had planned to renew their vows during a family vacation to Las Vegas, Nev.

“I’d talk to him and he’d say, ‘We’ll have the wedding we never had. We’ll have the wedding pictures we never had,”’ said Michelle Yazzie, who met her husband at a high school dance she sneaked into.

She said he was devoted to their children. “It’s going to be hard raising them by myself,” she said.

Jeanette Yazzie said her son always wanted to be a soldier and that as a child he would use tree limbs and sticks as imaginary guns to play war.

Frantz, 23, of Lafayette, Ind., was a counterintelligence specialist assigned to 1st Special Troops Battalion. He joined the Army in March 2004 and arrived at Fort Campbell in March 2005.

Frantz is survived by his father and mother, James and Marilyn Frantz of Lafayette, Ind.

Including the four deaths, there have been 110 soldiers from Fort Campbell killed in the Iraq war.

Approximately 20,600 soldiers from Fort Campbell are currently deployed, and nearly 20,000 of those are from the 101st Airborne Division.