Our Latest American Hero #112

alangrogers
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Army Maj. Alan G. Rogers, 40, of Hampton, Fla.; assigned to the Military Transition Team, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley, Kan.; died Jan. 27 of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was conducting a dismounted patrol in Baghdad.

“Army Major Remembered As Gator”

HAMPTON - A former Hampton resident who died in Baghdad on Sunday is being remembered as a kind son, a reliable worker, a pastor and a Gator.

U.S. Army Major Alan G. Rogers, 40, died of wounds he suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near him while he was on a foot patrol. He was serving his second tour of duty overseas. Rogers was a military intelligence officer working with a military transition team when he died.

Rogers moved to Bradford County from New York City in 1977, according to Margaret Wadsworth, a longtime teacher's aide at Hampton Elementary School.

"He was an only child and his parents moved here to help his grandmother who lived in Hampton," Wadsworth said. "He attended fourth and fifth grade here before going to the middle school and high school in Starke."

Brenda Thornton said Rogers graduated with her and the rest of the Bradford County High School Class of 1985. He enlisted in the Army and served in the first Persian Gulf war before returning to the area to enroll at the University of Florida using his GI benefits. Rogers joined the ROTC program at UF and worked as an administrative assistant at Trend Realty, according to former Trend owner Donna Pitts.

"We got close to him when he worked for us and he asked us to attend the ceremony at Kanapaha (park) when he received his commission as an officer," Pitts said. "We realized that he was an only child of older parents and had led a very sheltered life."

As an example of the sheltering, Pitts said that once she asked Rogers to drive some other employees to and from a social event on the Atlantic Coast and discovered Rogers had never been to the ocean.

Following his graduation from UF in 1995, Rogers returned to active duty with the Army and began ascending to the rank of major. Those close to Rogers said he was divorced and had no children but is survived by cousins who still live in Florida. They could not be reached on Wednesday.

Family friend Thelma Green said Rogers was well-grounded in Christianity. Green recalled attending Ebenezer Missionary Baptist church in Lincoln City with Rogers and his mother. Green said Rogers joined the church as a youngster and served on the young adult usher board for several years.

"In his later years the Lord called him to preach and he was ordained under the leadership of the Rev. O.E. Harris," Green said. "He always came back to visit us on leave."

Former neighbor Joyce Mitchell said Rogers was called home frequently as his parents aged, usually because of medical emergencies involving his mother, whose kidneys were failing.

"A mother couldn't have asked for a better son. Anytime they called, he would get here if he could and he became like a parent to his father and mother," Mitchell said. She also said that after many trips home to care for his mother, Rogers' father died suddenly. His mother died within a few months.