Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

Fountain soldier dies in bombing in Baghdad

By Tom Roeder, The Gazette

Published May 2, 2008 at 8:58 a.m.
Updated May 2, 2008 at 11:53 p.m.

Text size  

More Local News

More stories »

A 21-year-old soldier from Fountain has died in a bombing in Baghdad, the Army said Friday.

Spc. Ronald J. Tucker was on patrol with his unit from Fort Hood, Texas, on Wednesday when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a roadside bomb.

Capt. Andrew R. Pearson, 32, of Billings, Mont., also died in the bombing, the Army said.

Both men were assigned to the 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which started operations in Iraq last month.

Tucker, a 2005 graduate of Fountain-Fort Carson High School, joined the Army in 2005 and was trained to be a mortarman. He was assigned to Fort Hood in August 2006 and went to the Middle East this year.

"Ronnie had a passion to be successful," said Fountain- Fort Carson dean of students Mitch Johnson, who had known Tucker since he was a first-grader. "He was a hard- working student."

Johnson said Tucker was the kind of kid most school administrators don't notice, because he worked hard and kept his nose clean.

But Ronnie stood out for the right reasons, including his sense of humor.

"If there was a good practical joke to be played, you could count on Ronnie having that grin on his face," Johnson said.

Johnson said it was no surprise that Tucker joined the Army.

"He was a young man who had been around the military influence here the whole time he was in school."

Tucker is the third Fountain-Fort Carson graduate to die in Iraq.

Johnson said that Tucker, the 58th Colorado native killed in the Iraq war, is survived by his mother and two sisters.

Tucker's death came as fighting rages in Baghdad between Shiite militiamen loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Army forces.

This week, six soldiers from Fort Carson's 3rd Brigade Combat team were wounded in a four-hour firefight in Baghdad's Shiite enclave, Sadr City.

Comments

  • May 2, 2008

    2:58 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mayday writes:

    Captain Pearson, Specialist Tucker, thank you both for your service to this country. Condolences to the families of both of these men...

  • May 2, 2008

    4:21 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    buffsblg writes:

    A pause in the debate to salute two who sacrificed for the country they loved. Thank you for your ultimate service.