
OMAHA, Neb. — A 27-year-old Nebraska Army National Guard member died this weekend in Iraq, family and Army officials said July 23.
Sgt. Jacob Schmuecker of Norfolk died July 21 in a roadside bomb explosion in Balad, Iraq, the Nebraska Army National Guard confirmed.
“He liked to be the ramrod of the crew,” his mother Patty Schmuecker said, referring to her son’s relationship with his six younger siblings. Schmuecker also had an older sister.
She said her son would always tell one of his brothers, a fellow National Guardsman, to iron his uniform and polish his boots.
Schmuecker was 10 months into in his first tour of duty with the Guard’s...