Eric T Paliwoda
Profile
Age: 28
From: Texas
Assigned to 4th Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division (Mechanized), based in Fort Carson, Colo.
Incident: Army Capt. Eric T. Paliwoda was killed in action when his command post when it came under mortar attack, on Jan. 2 in Balad, Iraq.
Died: January 02, 2004
Capt. Eric T. Paliwoda had a busy life ahead of him. There was a wedding to plan, a master’s degree to earn and a teaching position to pursue.
“He was very excited. He’d be a wonderful teacher; he had a very commanding presence,” said his mother, Mary Paliwoda.
Paliwoda, 28, of Goodyear, Ariz., was killed Jan. 2 when his command post came under a mortar attack in Balad, about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad. An engineer, he was based at Fort Carson, Colo. Paliwoda and his fiancee, Wendy Rosen, were planning a June wedding, said his father, Alfred Paliwoda. He also wanted to earn a master’s degree and teach at his alma mater, West Point, said his mother.
Paliwoda grew up in Farmington, Conn., and was a standout basketball player in high school....