Army Spc. Spencer T. Karol

Died October 6, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Woodruff, Ariz.; assigned to the 165th Military Intelligence, V Corps, Darmstadt, Germany; killed while on a mission to observe enemy activity Oct. 6 when a command-detonated device exploded, overturning his vehicle, in Ramadi, Iraq.

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Just months after enlisting in the Army, Spc. Spencer Karol went back to Holbrook High School in Arizona to visit, 40 or 50 pounds of new muscle on his frame.

“He had bought this cute little red sports car, and all the girls were like, ‘Oh wow!’” said Teri White, a career counselor at the school. “He had been picked on by bullies when he was in high school, but they wouldn’t have wanted any part of him then.”

Karol, 20, of Woodruff, Ariz., was killed Oct. 6 in Ramadi, Iraq, when the force of an explosion overturned his vehicle. He was stationed in Darmstadt, Germany. In the weeks before his death, Karol had been calling home more often.

“He just kept calling and saying, ‘I love you, I love you,’” said his mother, Bridget Madison. “I think he knew that he was going to be put into dangerous territory. His last words to me were, ‘I’ll be back in November.’”

— Associated Press