Army Staff Sgt. Ronnie L. Sanders

Died February 3, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

26, of Thibodaux, La.; assigned to the 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Feb. 3 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

---

Fort Bragg-based soldier from Louisiana killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A Fort Bragg-based soldier who was on his third tour of duty in Iraq died over the weekend fighting in the country, the Department of Defense announced Monday.

Staff Sgt. Ronnie L. Sanders, 26, of Shreveport, La., died Saturday of wounds he suffered when a bomb went off near his vehicle near Taji, Iraq, according to a military statement. Sanders was a platoon sergeant with Company A, 407th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.

“He was the model paratrooper and leader. He was revered and trusted by his soldiers and made sure they were always trained and ready,” said Lt. Col. Thomas J. Rogers, commander of the 407th Brigade Support Battalion.

Sanders joined the Army in November 1999 and reported to the 82nd Airborne Division in May 2006. Sanders previously deployed to Iraq from Fort Bragg with the 126th Transportation Command.

Sanders is survived by his wife, Rachel, and twin daughters, Ra-onnie and Re-onnie, of Raeford, N.C. His mother, Ruth Manley, lives in Kennedale, Texas.

“My husband was looking forward to completing the mission, to return and continue to raise his two beautiful daughters that meant everything to him,” Rachel Sanders said in a written statement.