Army Staff Sgt. Robert J. Wilson

Died January 26, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

28, of Seattle, Wash.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Jan. 26 of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was conducting a dismounted patrol in Baghdad.

---

2 Fort Campbell soldiers killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Two members of Fort Campbell’s 101st Airborne Division died in separate incidents in Iraq, the military announced Monday.

The Department of Defense said Staff Sgt. Robert J. Wilson, 28, of Boynton Beach, Fla., died Saturday after a bomb detonated while he was conducting a dismounted patrol in Baghdad. He was an infantryman assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

Earlier, the military said Sgt. Tracy Renee Birkman, 41, died on Friday from non-combat injuries in Owesat. Birkman was a native of New Castle, Va., and was a light-wheel mechanic assigned to F Company, 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.

She entered the Army in August 1988 and arrived at Fort Campbell in June 2006, the post said.

Birkman is survived by her sons, Bradley Griffith, Joshua Birkman and Ryan Birkman; and her parents, Phyllis and Gerald Griffith, all of New Castle.

Wilson is survived by his father, Willie Wilson of Taylorsville, Ill.; and mother and stepfather, Peggy and Kevin Habian of Boynton Beach.

He entered the Army in January 2002 and arrived at Fort Campbell in September 2006, the post said.

---

Florida soldier enlisted three months after Sept. 11

The Associated Press

Peggy Habian said she and her son, Robert J. Wilson, talked about what should happen if he were killed in Iraq.

“He said, ‘If something ever happens, I don’t want a lot of articles in the paper,”’ Habian said. “He was a humble servant of the Army, not a media person.”

Wilson, of Boynton Beach, Fla., died Jan. 26 of wounds suffered from an explosive in Baghdad. He was assigned to Fort Campbell, Ky., and was serving his third Iraq tour.

“He was such an amazing guy, and he lived for what he loved, and loved for what he lived. I am so very thankful to have been able to call him my friend,” Kami Horton said.

Wilson entered the Army three months after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Boynton Beach city officials commemorated Wilson at his funeral.

“Sergeant. Wilson as an American soldier was performing his duty so that citizens of another country could someday experience peace and prosperity,” said City Manager Kurt Bressner. “It seems fitting that the Boynton Beach community should pause, honor his service and say thank you.”

He also is survived by his father, Willie Wilson, and stepfather, Kevin Habian.