Marine Sgt. Michael P. Hodshire

Died October 30, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of North Adams, Mich.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died Oct. 30 of wounds sustained Oct. 29 from an improvised explosive device during combat operations near Nasser Wa Salaam, Iraq.

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Hodshire dreamed of being a Marine

Associated Press

NORTH ADAMS, Mich. — A U.S. Marine from Hillsdale County who was serving in Iraq died Sunday near Fallujah, a family spokesman said.

Funeral arrangements for Sgt. Michael Paul Hodshire, 25, of North Adams were incomplete Sunday night, Kenneth Kurtz of Kurtz Funeral Home in Hillsdale said in a statement. He said the military told the family that Hodshire was killed by indirect gunfire. The family was not available for comment, Kurtz said.

The Pentagon had not confirmed the death as of Sunday night.

Hodshire long dreamed of joining the Marine Corps, and he entered basic training four days after graduating from North Adams-Jerome High School in 1999.

“That’s been a passion of his from his school days. He wanted to be a Marine,” Kurtz said.

Hodshire was deployed in Iraq from October 2003 through June 2004, then redeployed in July 2005.

“We’re a small, rural community here,” Kurtz said. “You can say this about so many kids, but he had a lot of friends here. He was very popular.”

High school Principal Carl Christenson said Sunday that the 550-student district would be devastated by the news. He said he met Hodshire last summer during a Little League baseball game. His 11-year-old son and Hodshire’s younger brother play on the same team, he said.

“It’s a small district,” Christenson told the Detroit Free Press. “Obviously, it will have an impact.”

Hodshire is survived by two children, his parents, one brother, three sisters and grandparents.

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Two Michigan service members die in Iraq

The Associated Press

NORTH ADAMS, Mich. — Two sergeants, a Marine from Hillsdale County and a soldier from Detroit, have been killed in Iraq.

Marine Sgt. Michael Paul Hodshire of North Adams died Oct. 30 near Fallujah, a family spokesman said.

Funeral arrangements for Hodshire, 25, were incomplete Sunday night, Kenneth Kurtz of Kurtz Funeral Home in Hillsdale said in a statement. He said the military told the family that Hodshire was killed by indirect gunfire. The family was not available for comment, Kurtz said.

The Pentagon had not confirmed the death as of Oct. 31.

Hodshire long dreamed of joining the Marine Corps, and he entered basic training four days after graduating from North Adams-Jerome High School in 1999.

“That’s been a passion of his from his school days. He wanted to be a Marine,” Kurtz said.

Hodshire was deployed in Iraq from October 2003 through June 2004, then redeployed in July 2005. He served as second squad leader for 3rd Platoon, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Kurtz said family members recalled Hodshire saying, “We are there for all the right reasons,” before leaving for his second deployment.

“We’re a small, rural community here,” Kurtz said. “You can say this about so many kids, but he had a lot of friends here. He was very popular.”

High school principal Carl Christenson said Oct. 30 that the 550-student district would be devastated by the news. He said he met Hodshire last summer during a Little League baseball game. His 11-year-old son and Hodshire’s younger brother play on the same team, he said.

“It’s a small district,” Christenson told the Detroit Free Press. “Obviously, it will have an impact.”

Hodshire also had served on the Silent Drill Team and Color Guard in Washington, D.C.

He is survived by two children, his parents, one brother, three sisters and grandparents.

Meanwhile, the Defense Department announced Oct. 30 that Army Staff Sgt. Lewis J. Gentry, 48, of Detroit died Oct. 26 in Mosul, Iraq, from a non-combat-related cause. Additional details were not immediately available.

Gentry was assigned to the Army’s 94th Engineer Battalion in Vilseck, Germany, and worked in transportation.

Vianne Gentry, 64, of Detroit said she remembers the date — Nov. 26, 1986 — on which her younger brother enlisted in the Army.

“He was my baby brother, that’s why I remember the date,” she said. “He was a really good guy.”

Vianne Gentry’s son VonEric had already enlisted in the military and urged his uncle to do so, too.

“He really wasn’t doing that much at the time,” said VonEric Gentry, 45, of Detroit. “I wanted him to go into the military. I told him it would give him a good start. Get a career and training.”

Gentry and Hodshire were the 65th and 66th members of the U.S. armed forces with known Michigan ties to die in Iraq.