Army Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess

Died March 29, 2011 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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29, of Cleburne, Texas, assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died March 29 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained after enemy forces attacked his unit with small-arms fire in Kunar province.

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Soldier remembered as friendly, athletic

The Associated Press

Nine years after he first enlisted, Bryan Burgess was making the Army his career.

The Cleburne, Texas, native had been deployed twice to Iraq and had less than a month left before his deployment to Afghanistan was set to end.

The 29-year-old died March 29 in Konar province. Another soldier also died in the attack.

His mother told officials at the Cleburne Independent School District that her son was killed during what appeared to be an ambush.

Burgess graduated from Cleburne High School in 1999, where he was a standout athlete who played soccer, baseball and football, and ran track.

“He was a sweet guy,” classmate Hillary Cochran told the school district for an article. “He always had a smile on his face. He was always friendly.”

Burgess was also an active member of Granbury Street Church of Christ.

He’s survived by a wife and two daughters. Burgess was assigned to Fort Campbell.