Eagle River Soldier Killed in Iraq
By Associated Press
EAGLE RIVER, Wis. (AP) -- A 21-year-old Army soldier from Eagle River deployed to Iraq for a second time was killed there, authorities said Wednesday.
Sgt. Tyler Kritz died Sunday following a roadside bomb explosion, said Sgt. Glen George, a casualty assistance officer with the Army Reserve Center in Wausau. Kritz was serving with a field artillery unit out of Fort Lewis, Wash., George said.
Kritz enlisted in the Army following his 2003 graduation from Northland Pines High School and was deployed to Iraq for a second time last June, authorities said.
Northland Pines had a moment of silence in honor of him Wednesday morning before the final day of classes began, teacher Jason Foster said.
"From day one, the first thing I remember about him is he was going to the military," Foster recalled. "That was his goal. He was going to go active duty and serve his country."
Kritz is the 75th soldier or Marine from Wisconsin killed in Iraq or associated with duties in Iraq. As of Tuesday, at least 3,494 members of the U.S. military had died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.
Catherine Caruso, a spokeswoman at Fort Lewis, declined comment until the U.S. Department of Defense officially announced Kritz's death and the details surrounding it.
His parents, Joseph and Doreen Kritz of Eagle River, did not immediately return a telephone message from The Associated Press forwarded by the Gaffney-Busha Funeral Home in Eagle River.
Funeral arrangements for Kritz were pending, funeral director Joe Busha said.
Foster worked with Kritz in the Phoenix Center, the district's alternative high school, during his senior year. He described Kritz as an intelligent student who enrolled in the alternative program because he got behind in some credits. He flew through the program.
"A lot of the time the kids who end up at the Phoenix Center are the students who are the round pegs in the square holes," Foster said. "He wasn't real obnoxious like a lot of high school kids."
Foster recalled Kritz wearing a military jacket and staying in close touch with recruiters.
"He was shy. He was friendly. He kind of kept to himself," Foster recalled. "He was well-liked. When he did talk, he had a sense of humor. I think his favorite subject was to be done with high school. He was motivated to be done."
Kritz played as a defensive back on the football team as a senior but wasn't a starter, said Foster, who helped coach the team that year.
He said Kritz looked forward to leaving Eagle River. "He wanted to be away at something different. He tried this life and now he wanted to go see what else there was to see."
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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