Our Latest American Hero #54

evanabixler
Originally uploaded by Randuwa.

Army Pvt. Evan A. Bixler, 21, of Racine, Wis., died Dec. 24 in Hit, Iraq, of wounds suffered from enemy indirect fire during security operations.  Bixler was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Baumholder, Germany.

'He Really Did Make Us Proud: Army Was Lifelong Dream For Bixler"

RACINE - August 2006 was the end of one long journey and the start of another for Evan Bixler.

Bixler, 21, a 2003 graduate of Park High School, had twice been denied entrance into the Army because of a medical condition.

But as autumn approached, his mother Lisa, father Kevin, sister Amy and grandparents John and Carol Neufield celebrated Evan's graduation from U.S. Army boot camp.

He had realized his lifelong dream of joining the Army, and was ready for his first assignment.

"He really did make us proud," sister Amy Bixler, 23, said. "There are no words for how proud we were of him."

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, based in Baumholder, Germany, and later served in Iraq.

Bixler died Sunday while on duty in Hit, Iraq, of wounds from enemy indirect fire received during security operations, the Department of Defense said.

Hit is one of several predominantly Sunni population centers along the Euphrates River in Iraq's Anbar province.

Of the 2,978 U.S. war casualties in the war in Iraq, Bixler is the 20th American casualty in the small town and the eighth in the last three months.

Hit is considered a volatile town, and has seen recurrent fighting between U.S. forces and insurgents. It's along one of western Iraq's main routes traveled by non-Iraqi insurgents from Syria into central Iraq.

Gregory Jackson, the Warrant Officer assigned by the Army to assist the Bixler family as they cope with the loss of their loved one, said Bixler died while performing guard duty.

Jackson will help the family with funeral arrangements, communicate information from the military to the Bixler family as it comes available and assist with any research or counsel, as needed.

"They have taken it hard. Every day is going to be different from the next," Jackson said. "Their son gave the ultimate. This is the way the military family can give back during this difficult time."