Army Staff Sgt. Cory W. Brooks

Died April 24, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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32, of Philip, S.D.; assigned to 153rd Engineer Battalion, Army National Guard, Wagner, S.D.; died April 24 of non-combat related injuries in Baghdad.

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South Dakota soldier dies in Iraq

By Dirk Lammers

Associated Press

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — A 32-year-old South Dakota National Guard soldier died in Iraq in a non-combat incident, the Guard said Sunday.

Staff Sgt. Cory W. Brooks, of Philip, was a member of Detachment 1, Company A of the 153rd Engineer Battalion of Winner. He was believed to be operating in the greater Baghdad area.

The incident was still under investigation Sunday, and no further details were available, said Maj. Harold Walker, a National Guard public affairs officer.

The Guard has notified Brooks’ family and is providing assistance.

South Dakota Gov. Mike Rounds on Sunday expressed his sympathy to the family.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family,” Rounds said in a statement. “We ask that all South Dakotans keep Cory and his family in their prayers.”

Brooks, who was single, is survived by his parents, Darral and Marilyn Brooks of Philip. The family did not wish to speak to reporters Sunday.

Brooks joined the National Guard in May 1989 and was a combat engineer throughout his 15 years of service. He was promoted to the rank of staff sergeant in September 1999.

The 153rd was mobilized in December and deployed to the Middle East in February.

Brooks is the second South Dakota National Guard soldier to die in Iraq, and both deaths occurred within a week.

Anthony Ellis of Philip said, “It can happen to anybody and it just so happened that it happened to somebody from a little town like this. And, in little towns, everybody knows everybody and it’s sad to hear that.”

Barry Barber, who does business in Philip, said all soldiers in Iraq are in danger. “But, then it gets you when something happens this close.”

Philip residents say Brooks’ family and friends will be all right. But it leaves residents with mixed emotions.

“It would be nice if it was over. But, I guess we have to do what we have to do. Just to have the boys home would be really nice,” Ellis said.

“You think it’s going to happen to somebody else,” Barber said. “I don’t know, it’s a heck of a price to pay.”

Mike Moses, Brooks’ old boss, recalled Brook’s last words to him: “He said I’ll see you in a year. He was a soldier and he was doing his job.”

Spc. Dennis Morgan, also a member of the 153rd, was killed the previous weekend when a roadside bomb exploded as a military convoy passed. Morgan, 22, was manning an automatic weapon on an armored personnel carrier and was hit by shrapnel.

More than 300 people turned out Friday to greet a motorcade bringing Morgan’s body home to Valentine, Neb. People along the route held American flags, candles and signs reading “Welcome home, Dennis,” “We love you,” and “My hero.”