Chad H Drake
Profile
Age: 23
From: Garland, Texas
Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas
Incident: Army Spc. Chad H. Drake was killed Sept. 7 when his patrol vehicle came under attack by small-arms fire in Baghdad.
Died: September 07, 2004
Even though he was shipping out to war, Chad H. Drake told his family not to worry. "He said, 'You have your job, and this is mine,'" said his wife, Randi Drake. He was more concerned about "his girls": his wife, daughter, sister and mother. Drake, 23, of Garland, Texas, died Sept. 7 when his patrol vehicle was hit by small-arms fire in Baghdad. He was based at Fort Hood, Texas, and left for Iraq on March 13, his 23rd birthday. A 1999 high school graduate, his future plans included possibly becoming a teacher and coaching middle school football. He was to receive a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star for an earlier act of valor: helping rescue two pilots when his Humvee was ambushed. He got out of the vehicle and returned twice to free the driver and...