SEOUL — Army Spc. Edwin W. Roodhouse wanted to go to Iraq. The 36-year-old computer networking engineer volunteered twice to get the Middle East deployment after joining the Army two years ago, his father told an Oregon newspaper this weekend.
“He felt it was something he should do,” Alan Roodhouse told the News Register newspaper in McMinnville, Ore.
Edwin Roodhouse of San Jose, Calif., died Dec. 5 in Habbaniyah when an improvised explosive device detonated near the Humvee in which he was riding.
Staff Sgt. Marvin L. Trost III, 28, of Goshen, Ind., also died in the blast, according to the Pentagon.
Both men were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division in Camp Greaves, South Korea.
They were the 32nd and 33rd soldiers to die in Iraq since Strike Force troops were sent from South Korea this summer.
As of Tuesday morning, 1,293 servicemembers have died since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003, according to the Pentagon.
Most of the Strike Force deaths have come in what is known as the Sunni Triangle, an area containing cities such as Ramadi, Habbaniyah and Fallujah.
At the same time, attacks and car bombs by insurgents in Baghdad have plagued U.S. efforts to rebuild the city and prepare for January’s national elections.
Roodhouse had been assigned to battalion headquarters in South Korea but requested duty in a regular infantry unit, his father told Oregon media. He was assigned to the Second Brigade Combat Team.
“His group has lost 25 young men since August,” Alan Roodhouse said. “He and his buddy were driving on the main road in a Humvee, and hit a roadside mine, an IED, and they were killed.”
His buddy was Staff Sgt. Kyle Eggers, 27, of Yakima, Wash.
