Neale M. Shank
Profile
Age: 25
From: Fort Wayne, Ind.
Assigned to the 1st Squadron, 89th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.
Incident: Army 1st Lt. Neale M. Shank died March 31 in Baghdad from a non-combat-related incident. His death is under investigation.
Died: March 31, 2007
Family says Fort Drum soldier killed in Iraq
AVILLA, Ind. -- A West Point graduate from northern Indiana who was more than halfway through a yearlong tour of duty in Iraq died there, the Department of Defense confirmed April 2.
Army 1st Lt. Neale Shank, 25, died March 31, but military officials did not provide details about what happened, said his father, Mike Shank.
Shank's death was not related to combat and was being investigated, Department of Defense officials said.
The younger Shank enlisted in the Army after graduating from Fort Wayne's Concordia Lutheran High School in 1999, then was accepted into the U.S. Military Academy, graduating in 2005. He left in July for his assignment in Iraq.
�Neale had a lot of integrity,'' his father said. ``He was well rounded and street wise. We had a long talk before he left. Neale wanted people to know that they (the American military) were doing good things over...