The Defense Department has released the name of a Schweinfurt, Germany-based infantryman who was killed last week in Iraq.
Pfc. Alberto Garcia, 23, died March 13 in Baghdad of wounds received during combat from both small-arms fire and explosives, a DOD release stated. Garcia was a member of 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division.
ABC affiliate KERO in Garcia’s hometown of Bakersfield, Calif., spoke with his friends and neighbors, who remembered him as a quiet, religious man who loved his family.
A memorial service for Garcia will be held at the Ledward Barracks in Schweinfurt, but a date has not yet been set, said a spokesman from the Schweinfurt Public Affairs Office.
A funeral for Garcia will take place in south Bakersfield at Valley Bible Fellowship church where he was an active member, the television station reported.
Garcia, who graduated from Bakersfield’s Vista West High School in 2003, is the 24th member of 2nd “Dagger” Brigade to be killed in combat since deploying in August and September of last year.
The unit is primarily stationed in and around the cities of Baghdad and Ramadi, two of the most volatile areas in the country.
