SSgt. Kenneth Pospisil

(reprinted from NewsObserver.com, December 17, 2005)
N.C.-based Marine dies in explosion in Iraq
The Associated Press
Minnesota’s latest casualty in Iraq was a man who loved the Marines, his mother said Friday.
Staff Sgt. Kenneth B. Pospisil, 35, of Andover, assigned to a unit from North Carolina, died Wednesday when a bomb went off near Al Ramadi, the U.S. Department of Defense announced.

His mother, Jeanne Pospisil, said military officials told her her son was on his way to disarm the bomb when it went off.

“He was trained very well in his job,” she said. “He was very careful. He had all the gear on he was supposed to have when this explosive device went off. We’re just stunned.”Kenneth Pospisil “loved the Marine Corps” and felt he belonged in Iraq, his mother said. “It was his whole life, his adult life. He loved his job, the guys he worked with. He was just a Marine.”

Pospisil was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune.