Very sad news today from the Department of Defense and The Signal:
Spc. Ian T.D. Gelig, 25, of Stevenson Ranch, died yesterday in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device, according to the Department of Defense.
The paratrooper was assigned to the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.
His unit was conducting a combat logistic patrol in Kandahar when he was killed.
“Gelig was a good friend and great person,” said Spc. David Tryon, a fellow Paratrooper from Alpha Company. “He was always there for you when you needed something. He will be deeply missed by everyone in this unit, for a piece of us went with him.”
I’ve been browsing what I think is Spc. Gellig’s MySpace page. According to that page, he graduated in 2002 from Hart High School and was in the elite 82nd Airborne Divsion.
A North Carolina newspaper (the 82nd is based in Fort Bragg in NC) says Spc. Gelig died “when a suicide car bomber drove into his vehicle.”
Gelig also served in Kuwait & Iraq in 2007. This was his second deployment according to the AP.
He is, by my count, the fourth young man from the Santa Clarita Valley to die in the wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. I think he may be the first who died in Afghanistan.
Rest in peace and thank you for your service Spc. Gelig.
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