District of Columbia Army National Guard Spc. Darryl T. Dent

Died August 26, 2003 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

21, of Washington, D.C.; assigned to 547th Transportation Company, U.S. Army National Guard, based in Washington, D.C.; killed Aug. 26 in southeast Arimadi, Iraq. Dent was in a convoy when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle.

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Spc. Darryl Dent was a goal-oriented person who got things done — and had a good time doing them.

“Most of the time he was happy, and when he wasn’t happy you wouldn’t know it because he was always trying to make sure that everybody else was happy,” said his sister, Lisa Justice of Roanoke Rapids, N.C. “He was trying to keep the peace all the time.”

Dent, 21, a National Guard member based in Washington, D.C., was killed Aug. 26 by a makeshift explosive device while on convoy duty in Iraq.

Vernon Dent said his son joined the Guard right out of high school and wanted to go to medical school. He spoke to his son a few weeks before, and the soldier said he was ready to come home.

“That’s my baby boy. A good kid. It really hurt me,” the father said.

— Associated Press

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D.C. National Guardsman killed in Iraq

By Derrill Holly

Associated Press

A soldier in the District of Columbia National Guard died in an attack while on patrol in Iraq, officials said Aug. 27.

Spc. Darryl Dent, 21, who grew up in North Carolina, was killed Aug. 26 by a makeshift explosive device while on convoy duty near the town of Hamariyah. Two of his colleagues in the D.C. National Guard’s 547th Transportation Company were wounded in the attack. They were not identified.

“Once they were assigned to this mission, they knew that they were in harm’s way,” said Brig. General Errol R. Schwartz, deputy commander of the D.C. National Guard. “They are operating in a hostile zone, and they always have to be ready” Schwartz said, adding that improvised explosive devices are particularly hard to defend against.

Family members said Dent’s funeral will be held in Roanoke Rapids, N.C., where he lived much of his life. He spent the last five years living with his father in Washington, family members said.

“I don’t like it,” Dent’s father, Vernon Dent, told WUSA-TV. “That’s my baby boy. A good kid. It really hurt me.” Dent said his son joined the Guard right out of high school and wanted to go to medical school. He spoke to his son a few weeks ago, and the soldier told him he was ready to come home.