Army Spc. Michael J. Smith

Died January 11, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Media, Pa.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Casey, Korea; killed Jan. 11 when his military vehicle was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Ramadi, Iraq.

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Soldier killed in Iraq remembered for patriotism

Associated Press

COATESVILLE, Pa. — The father of a suburban Philadelphia native killed in Iraq said his son was a true believer in the infantry work he was doing.

Spc. Michael J. Smith, 24, died Tuesday when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his military vehicle in Ramadi.

“He thought it was important that we be there and help these people,” said his father, James H. Smith, 63, of Coatesville. “He was all about helping and doing what he could to help liberate these people, politics aside.”

Smith, who was raised in Springfield, Delaware County, dropped out of high school and sang in a heavy metal band before enlisting in the Army. His father said he did so to serve his country and improve his life. The two had been close since Michael Smith’s mother died of cancer in 1995.

He had married a Russian woman, Oksana, whom he had met while stationed in Korea, his father said.

Michael Smith last visited home in September; his father said he showed no fear of returning to Iraq.

“He was there to do his job, which he loved. He often said that ‘I’m doing what I’m trained to do,”’ James Smith said Thursday, after the military released his son’s name.

Michael Smith was a member of the 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division. The unit’s headquarters are being transferred from South Korea to Fort Carson, Colo., and the troops are expected to arrive at the Colorado post this summer after their current tour in Iraq.

In addition to his wife and father, he is survived by a half-brother, Jim, who is serving full time in the Pennsylvania National Guard.