David T. Weir

Saturday, September 16 2006 @ 02:15 AM MDT

Herald Leader -- CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. - Just hours before Army Sgt. David T. Weir was killed in Baghdad, he told his brother in a telephone call that he was in the crossfire of mortars not aimed at him, his brother said Friday.

"He called us pretty frequently," said Chris Weir, one of the slain soldier's five siblings. "He was saying we are just kind of stuck in the middle .... Somebody threw mortars over them and then mortars came back, over the top of them. He said they weren't targeting them. That was his words."

Weir was trained to be a forward observer, calling in fire from air support to protect troops in combat, but his mission recently was more of a policing role, his brother said in a telephone interview from the family's home in Cleveland.

He said Army officials had not yet provided all details about the death of his brother, a member of the 101st Airborne Division. He said they told him the telephone conversation was about four hours before the soldier was killed.

"All we know is they were a dismounted patrol doing security sweeps. He was shot. That's all we know," Chris Weir said as family friends continued to stop by to offer condolences.

The Department of Defense confirmed Weir's death in a Friday statement that said he died Thursday from wounds suffered a day earlier "when he encountered enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire."

Weir is also survived by his wife, Alison, and their 2-year-old son, Gavin.

Weir had just re-enlisted and his promotion to sergeant had been scheduled to take effect Oct. 1 but the Army awarded the rank posthumously, Chris Weir said. He said Army officials told the family not to expect the body to arrive home for five to eight days. Funeral arrangements were pending.

Chris Weir described his slain brother as a "lifelong military guy. That is what he always wanted to do." He said their father is a Vietnam veteran.

"He (David) always made all of us watch military movies," Chris Weir said. "He was just always military driven."

Chris Weir said his brother was "extremely proud he could be fighting them over there so we wouldn't have to be fighting them here. He loved this country very much."

Weir loved football and was a wide receiver at Bradley Central High School, his brother said.

"The boy, he ate and breathed football and the Army. We were always watching football. He was a big UT fan. He wanted to play in college. He was just too small .... All our brothers and dad would sit around every Saturday and throw things at the TV. That was what brought us together, football."

Chris Weir said his brother's most recent visit home was a weeklong leave in March and the family spent the week at a chalet in Gatlinburg.

"The bottom line is we just want everybody to know he died for you and me, no matter what our political view is. He was extremely proud to be able to do that."

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