Gabriel G. DeRoo
 |
| Age: |
|
25 |
| Hometown: |
Tacoma, WA |
| Date of Death: |
8/20/06 |
| Incident Location: |
Mosul, Iraq |
| Branch of Military: |
|
Army |
| Rank: |
Sgt |
| Unit: |
3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division |
| Unit's Base: |
Fort Lewis |
|
The letters that 25-year-old Sgt. Gabriel G. DeRoo wrote home in longhand, and the flowers he habitually sent his wife, were still arriving at their Tacoma home Tuesday, two days after he was killed in action in Iraq.
"He always sent gifts home and flowers to honor his family and wife while he was away," said the Rev. Mark Suko of Discovery Baptist Church in Gig Harbor.
DeRoo, his wife, Hannah, and their son, Gabriel, regularly attended the church, which held a service for him and other members of the military who departed in June.
"He was a Christian young man of uncommon integrity, character and valor," Suko said. "He was my inspirational prayer partner. And he was my son-in-law as well."
"He was a man of great integrity. He told his family and his troops that if anybody had to die in his company he would prefer that it be him first and not them, because he wanted them to have time to evaluate their life before the Lord," Suko said.
"That is the one thing that sticks in my mind."