U.S. Department of Defense
Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)
News Release
IMMEDIATE RELEASE No. 775-08
September 15, 2008
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Sergeant 1st Class Daniel R. Sexton, 53, of Wentzville, Missouri., died September 10, 2008, at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 164th Military Police Company, Fort Richardson, Alaska.
The incident is under investigation.
By Tim Bryant
Courtesy Of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch
16 Sepptember 2008
A military police officer who grew up in Wentzville and joined the Army when he was 33 has died in a noncombat shooting in Iraq, his wife said Monday.
Sergeant First Class Daniel R. Sexton, 53, died Wednesday at Joint Base Balad, the Army said. He had been assigned since June 2004 to the 164th Military Police Company at Fort Richardson, Alaska.
A Fort Richardson spokesman did not provide details of the fatality but Sexton’s wife, Tori, said her husband was the victim of an accidental shooting. She added that the Army had yet to provide her with much information about his death, which remains under investigation.
Before his assignment to Fort Richardson, Sexton had been attached to several Army posts, including Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri. He was a veteran of the Persian Gulf War.
After graduating from Wentzville High School, Sexton attended several colleges in Missouri while working in his family’s restaurant business, his wife said.
Sexton, born February 16, 1955, in St. Louis, joined the Army in 1988, when he was 33. His wife said he had regretted not going into the military during the Vietnam War.
“He told me he felt guilty about missing Vietnam,” Tori Sexton said.
A military memorial was held Friday in Iraq. A similar memorial is scheduled for today at Fort Richardson. Burial will be at Arlington National Cemetery.
After completing basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama, Sexton served at Army facilities in Korea and Germany as well as several in the U.S.
Tori Sexton said she met her future husband in 1991 while he was on leave in New Hampshire. They married four months later.
In addition to his wife, among the survivors are two teenage sons, Shane and Corey.
Father and sons enjoyed skiing and snowboarding together, the family said. The three also enjoyed playing video games and watching cartoons.
And while Sexton might have been the oldest soldier in his company, he rode his bicycle most places and was in excellent physical condition, his family said.
Many of the younger soldiers in the company considered Sexton a father figure and frequently confided in him, the family added.
SEXTON, DANIEL RILEY
SFC US ARMY
- DATE OF BIRTH: 02/16/1955
- DATE OF DEATH: 09/10/2008
- BURIED AT: SECTION 60 SITE 8778
ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY
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