Spc. Dana N. Wilson

Died July 11, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Fountain, Colo.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Brigade, Baumholder, Germany; killed July 11 when the vehicle in which he and another soldier were riding was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle near Hillah, Iraq.

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Soldier mourns brother killed in Iraq

Associated Press

FOUNTAIN, Colo. — The latest Colorado native to die in Iraq was remembered by his older brother Thursday as a beloved father of two young children who had dreams of opening a restaurant.

“I yearn — I wish for another chance to hear his voice. I know I’m never going to hear that again,” Damian Wilson, a soldier at Fort Carson, told KKTV-TV of Colorado Springs.

Spc. Dana Wilson, 26, died Sunday in a head-on collision with another vehicle in a convoy near Hillah. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 94th Field Artillery Brigade, based out of Germany.

Wilson is survived by his wife, Christen, and two sons, Tristan, 5, and Brandon, 3. The couple was married in 1999 on Valentine’s Day, according to state records, and was living in Germany.

Damian Wilson said he was devastated by the loss.

“His kids are 3 and 1. How are they going to grow up with him?” he asked. “It’s really hard — the darkest point in my life.”

He said his brother had been in the Army for less than a year and wanted to become a cook.

“I don’t see how bad things happen to good people. That’s what it comes down to,” the elder Wilson said. “He was so close. So close to coming home.”

Wilson said he has had flashbacks to his childhood since learning of his brother’s death.

“I get these visions of growing up, playing baseball and football. I was quarterback. My brother was the only one who would know where I was throwing the ball before I would throw it,” he told the TV station.

The crash is under investigation. Wilson said he has heard a sandstorm may have impaired visibility of drivers in the convoy.