Army Spc. Ray M. Fuhrmann II

Died August 18, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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28, of Novato, Calif.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed on August 18 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee following a mine-assessment mission in Samarra, Iraq.

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Soldier killed by explosion in Iraq

Associated Press

As a medic, Ray M. Fuhrmann II probably saved more lives in Iraq over the past three years than most emergency room doctors.

“Ray saved everybody — Iraqis, soldiers, anybody. He didn’t care,” said his wife, Tylea. “He even tried to go to the Iraqi hospitals to help people who were wounded.”

Fuhrmann, 28, of Novato, Calif., was killed by a roadside bomb Aug. 18 in Samarra. He was assigned to Fort Stewart and was on his second tour of Iraq.

Fuhrmann, who grew up in Hawaii, attended community colleges in Sonoma and Alameda counties. He married his high school sweetheart, enlisted and shipped out for Iraq, all in 2002.

“He was a wonderful person. He was an asset to the community and to the country, and they are the ones who will be losers, really,” said his grandfather, Ray Fuhrmann.

The younger Fuhrmann enjoyed martial arts and studied aikido in Japan. Inspired by his tours in Iraq, he hoped to go to medical school and become a trauma surgeon when he got out.

“When I spent time with him, I was very introverted,” said half-brother, Tyler Gold. “He kind of helped me get out of that.”