Damien T. Ficek
 |
| Age: |
|
26 |
| Hometown: |
Pullman, WA |
| Date of Death: |
12/30/2004 |
| Incident Location: |
Baghdad |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Army |
| Rank: |
Sgt |
| Unit: |
1st Battalion, 161st Infantry Regiment |
| Unit's Base: |
Spokane, Wash. |
|
Even as a child, Damien Ficek was unfailingly polite. "The first question out of his mouth would be, 'How are you?' That's what he would say, not anything about himself," said his aunt, Joani Dufourd. Ficek, 26, of Pullman, Wash., was killed Dec. 30 by small arms fire in Baghdad. He was based in Spokane, Wash., and leaves a wife, Kyla. Ficek liked physical action. He was on his high school football team and wrestling squad and rode BMX bikes for fun. He enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school in 1996. Ficek joined the National Guard in 2002, the same year he started attending Washington State University. He made the honor roll as he studied athletic training, but withdrew from classes in 2003 when his unit was activated. In an e-mail to his friend, Brian Lynott, two weeks before he died, Ficek said he was looking forward to returning home and starting a family. "The world has lost a very, very promising person in Damien Ficek," Dufourd said. "He was a giver. He was not so much focused on his own destiny but on how he could affect people around him."