Army Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell

Died March 25, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Anderson, S.C.; assigned to the 13th Military Police Detachment, 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, Fort Shafter, Hawaii; died March 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

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Futrell was Shafter-based MP

The Associated Press

HONOLULU — The military says a Hawaii-based soldier from South Carolina has died in Iraq after a non-combat incident.

The Pentagon said March 27 that Staff Sgt. Raphael A. Futrell, 26, of Anderson, S.C., died March 25 in Baghdad. Officials said the incident is being investigated, but no details have been released.

Futrell was assigned to a military police battalion at Fort Shafter, Hawaii.

His mother, Vicki, said in an interview March 27 that her son always wanted to work in law enforcement and was working as a military police officer. She said he was on his second deployment to the region.

Futrell was a member of the 13th Military Police Detachment in the 728th Military Police Battalion, 8th Military Police Brigade, 8th Theater Sustainment Command, based in Hawaii.

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Family remembers fallen MP

The Associated Press

Staff Sgt Raphael A. Futrell loved his job as a military police officer, said his older brother, Capt. Wilson Winters.

“He liked being a police officer, anything that dealt with investigating,” Winters said. “He was a dual canine operator — bomb-sniffing dogs and attack dogs. He was certified in both. He enjoyed handling the dogs.”

Futrell, 26, of Anderson, S.C., died March 25 in Baghdad from non-combat related injuries. Known as “Ralph,” he was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Shafter.

“He did things around the house every time he would come home on leave,” single mom Vicki Futrell said of her younger son.

“He’d clean out my refrigerator, clean out my garage. He’d take care of my dogs.”

He also is survived by Chance, his 3-year-old son with his former wife, Angela.

His mother said she will remember the practical gifts he would give her, like the jug for ice water when she worked as a teller.

“Once when I was sick with the flu, he made macaroni and cheese,” she said. “He said, ‘This would be good for you,’ and that was the best macaroni and cheese.”