Duane E. Longstreth
 |
| Age: |
|
19 |
| Hometown: |
Tacoma, WA |
| Date of Death: |
8/7/2003 |
| Incident Location: |
Baghdad |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Army |
| Rank: |
Spc |
| Unit: |
Company B, 307th Engineer Battalion |
| Unit's Base: |
Fort Bragg, N.C. |
|
Spc. Duane E. Longstreth and his mother enlisted in the Army together, motivated by the Sept. 11 terror attacks. He became a combat engineer at Fort Bragg, she became a communications specialist in Germany. "He was an unbelievably outstanding child," his mother, Jennifer West, said. "I think, like me, he joined because he was very aware of what was right and what was wrong." The 19-year-old Longstreth died Aug. 7 of an apparent accidental gunshot wound while serving in Iraq. "My sentiments are still the same," his mother said. "We're in Iraq to do a necessary job. We fully know that." Longstreth, a native of Tacoma, Wash., was sent to Lincoln's Challenge Academy, a military-style program run by the Illinois National Guard for at-risk youth, and enlisted in the Army after graduation, five months before he turned 18. Other survivors include West's husband and two sisters.