 The News Tribune -- Spc. Durrell L. Bennett’s tour of duty in Iraq was supposed to end Friday, his father said.
The 22-year-old Spanaway solider was killed Saturday in Baghdad after encountering an improvised explosive device and small arms fire, the Department of Defense reported Tuesday. He was in the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.
He was one of two state service members to die in Iraq over the weekend.
Bennett, who attended Bethel High, had recently re-enlisted and planned to return to the area and share an apartment with his 18-year-old brother.
“He had so many friends,” said his dad, Dempsey Bennett. “Everybody knew Durrell.”
Throughout high school Durrell Bennett wrote songs and wanted to be a music producer. His dad urged him to hit the books and focus on more practical pursuits, he said.
“In his high school years, he and I would battle about that,” Dempsey Bennett said. “But he was determined.”
Durrell Bennett’s MySpace page reads: “Most of my spare time i love to do music thats my first love, im not tryin too make it big or anything like evrybody else. This is just a hobbie, but if it happens i wont complain.”
A high-ranking Marine officer from the Seattle area also was killed Saturday in Iraq, his family told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.
Lt. Col. William G. Hall, a Washington State University graduate, was one of the highest-ranking U.S. military officers to be killed in the war, the paper reported, noting that the Department of Defense had not yet issued a formal notice of his death.
Hall, a husband and father of four, was killed by a roadside bomb in Fallujah, his family told the newspaper. |
I would just like to say thank you to you and the other soldier from your unit(2/16th Inf) who was also killed in that ambush for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Semper Paratus"(Always Ready)
16th Inf. Motto