NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense
No. 523-05
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2005
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Staff Sergeant Russell J. Verdugo, 34, of Phoenix, Arizona, died May 23, 2005, in Baghdad, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated as he was responding to a report of an improvised explosive device. Verdugo was assigned to the 767th Ordnance Company, Fort McNair, Washington, D.C.
by Dennis Ryan
Pentagram staff writer
10 June 2005
The Old Guard casket party crisply folded the flag, which was presented to Kari Verdugo last Friday at Arlington National Cemetery’s Section 60. The chaplain loudly proclaimed, “Staff Sergeant Russell Verdugo honored the flag, at last the flag honors him.”
Verdugo, 34, died doing his job May 23 on a Baghdad street. His job was particularly dangerous and in demand in Iraq. The staff sergeant served with 767th Ordnance Company from Fort McNair.
He and his unit were preparing to dispose of an improvised explosive device, when a second bomb detonated, killing Verdugo and injuring seven other Soldiers.
The firing party executed what General Douglas MacArthur called, “the mournful murmur of musketry” and a bugler played the dirge-like notes of Taps on a wet and gloomy day.
Verdugo and his unit deployed to Baghdad in February. He planned to be married this summer, but he changed plans and moved up his wedding.
Kari Verdugo, 29, did not know a lot about the military or the nature of her husband’s job before she met Russell on a visit from Chicago to Washington in November of 2002. The couple dated long distance until the teacher found a teaching job and moved to the area in August of 2004.
“A week after I moved here, he got news of deployment,” she said. “I knew nothing about EOD. I gradually learned. You could ask him a simple question and he would answer with three more questions. He had an interesting sense of humor. He was always very generous and giving. He’d do anything for his family and friends.”
Kari Verdugo said her husband was rather self contained and she would have to prod him a bit for more details.
“He’d say something pretty vague,” she said. “Eventually I’d say can we just cut to the chase. He’d be vague to protect me, but he learned pretty quickly. He loved what he did.”
Verdugo enlisted in the Army in 1993 and entered the Naval Explosive Ordnance Disposal School at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, in 1999. He also served a tour of duty in Afghanistan from July 2003 to February 2004.
VERDUGO, RUSSELL JAMES
SSG US ARMY
- DATE OF BIRTH: 04/10/1971
- DATE OF DEATH: 05/23/2005
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8184
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
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Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a former officer of the US Army. So it was no wonder that sooner or later his interests drew him to American history and especially to American military history. Many of his articles can be found on renowned portals like the New York Times, Washingtonpost or Wikipedia.
Reviewed by: Michael Howard