Army Staff Sgt. Jason M. Butkus

Died August 30, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

34, of West Milford, N.J.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died Aug. 30 in Baghdad, Iraq, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit.

---

Soldier from New Jersey killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

TRENTON, N.J. — An Army sergeant from Passaic County was killed when insurgents attacked his vehicle in Iraq, the military said Aug. 31.

Staff Sgt. Jason M. Butkus, 34, who grew up in West Milford, N.J., died Aug. 30 when his Humvee was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Baghdad, his family said.

He was assigned to the A Company, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, out of Fort Riley, Kan.

Butkus joined the Army in 1995 and began serving with the 1st Infantry Division in October 2006. This was his first deployment to Iraq.

“He died doing what he loved, serving in uniform as an infantry NCO,” his family said in a statement. “Jason will always be a hero to us.”

Butkus was a graduate of West Milford High School, where he was a member of the track and wrestling teams.

His mother and stepfather, Cheryl and Edward Bohn, live in Old Bridge.

Butkus is also survived by his father, Michael Butkus of Houston, Texas; his former wife, Amanda, and a 9-year-old son, Connor, both of Fairbanks, Alaska; and his sisters, Tonya Conklin of West Milford, and Vanessa Butkus of Bloomingdale.