Albert Markee Nelson – Private First Class, United States Army

NEWS RELEASES from the United States Department of Defense
No. 1285-06 IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 15, 2006

DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of two soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died December 4, 2006, in Ar Ramadi, Iraq, of injuries suffered from small arms fire while conducting security and observation operations. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

Killed were:

  • Private First Class Albert M. Nelson, 31, of Philadelphia.
  • Private First Class Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez, 21 of Miami.

The incident is under investigation.


December 16, 2006
Tragic way to learn son is in Iraq

The death of a Fort Carson soldier in Iraq earlier this month came as a surprise to his relatives.

They thought he was still in Colorado.

“I didn’t even know he was in Iraq,” said Jean Feggins of Philadelphia, the mother of Private First Class Albert M. Nelson.

The 31-year-old Nelson was killed December 4, 2006, with Private First Class Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez, 21, when their infantry unit came under small-arms fire in Ramadi, the Army said Friday. The men were with a 2nd Brigade Combat Team battalion sent to Anbar province, southwest of Baghdad.

Feggins said her son enlisted in the Army about a year ago.

“He was only in there about a year,” Feggins said.

Before joining the Army, Nelson worked as a security guard and at other jobs. Feggins said her son was a “regular guy” and a “people person.”

Nelson was the oldest of Feggins’ six children. The youngest is 12. Feggins said she raised them all to look up to their older brother.

“They’re devastated,” Feggins said.

Feggins declined to talk in detail about Nelson’s personal life.

“He’s a grown man,” Feggins said. “He was a grown man.”

Feggins said her relationship with her son went through some cool times.

“Me and him, we didn’t always see eye to eye, but we were best friends,” Feggins said.

Feggins said her son never married or had children.

Nelson and Suarez-Gonzalez died while conducting security and observation operations, the Army said.

Suarez-Gonzalez was from Miami.

Since the start of the Iraq invasion in 2003, 177 Fort Carson soldiers have been killed, including 55 deaths from enemy fire. Seventy-two soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team have been killed.


16 December 2006:

A funeral will be held today (Saturday) for a 31-year-old soldier from West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, who lost his life in Iraq.

Private First Class Albert M. Nelson died on December fourth from small arms fire in Ramadi. He and another soldier, 21-year-old Roger A. Suarez-Gonzalez of Miami, were conducting security and observation operations when they were shot. Suarez-Gonzalez also died.

Both soldiers were based in Fort Carson, Colorado.

Nelson will be buried Monday in Arlington National Cemetery.


October 14, 2008 | Helmet-cam footage from Ramadi, Iraq

On the afternoon of December 4, 2006, Private First Class Albert Nelson was wounded and Private First Class Roger Suarez-Gonzalez was killed during an exchange of fire in “building #2” close to the south bank of the Euphrates River in Ramadi, Anbar province, Iraq.  This video, which was recorded from the point of view of the men in building #2 that day, appears to show an American tank firing on them, followed by an attempt to assign official blame for the death of Suarez and the injuries to Nelson to Iraqi insurgents firing mortars. Nelson later died of his wounds.

The video comes from a camera mounted on the helmet of Sergeant First Class Jack Robison, who donned it to record a firefight in progress. The footage begins with Robison in a courtyard attached to building #2. The original video was 52 minutes and 38 seconds long; Salon has abridged it to show the alleged friendly fire incident and its aftermath, including exchanges between Robison and a commanding officer as to whether or not a U.S. tank fired on the building, and the comments of other soldiers in the house who say they saw the tank fire at their position. The video shows Pfc. Nelson receiving medical attention for his left leg, which was severed in the blast. At the request of Nelson's family, we have blurred his image throughout. It includes graphic violence and profanity. The video can be viewed in its entirety below, albeit with Nelson's image obscured.

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Members of an Army honor guard carry the remains of Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, of Philadelphia, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, December 18, 2006.
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Family and friends comfort each other during funeral services for Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, of Philadelphia, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery Monday, December 18, 2006.
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Brigadier General Anthony Cucolo, right, presents Jean Feggins the American flag that draped the casket of Pfc. Albert M. Nelson, of Philadelphia, during funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery

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