Funeral for PA guardsmen killed in Iraq
Funeral services will be held today for a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard who died in Iraq. 32-year-old Staff Sergeant Mark Baum from Quakertown was recently killed in action north of Baghdad.
Funeral services will be held today for a member of the Pennsylvania National Guard who died in Iraq. 32-year-old Staff Sergeant Mark Baum from Quakertown was recently killed in action north of Baghdad. WHYY’s Susan Phillips reports.
Script:
Staff Sergeant Baum’s family learned of his death while celebrating his daughter’s sixth birthday. Sergeant First Class Kim Carson was his friend and fellow guardsman. He says, after serving in the army, with a tour in Iraq, he joined the National Guard as a way to realize his dream of becoming a policeman.
Carson: “He knew when he came back in that his unit was going to get sent to Iraq, he knew what he was getting himself into.”
Carson says Staff Sergeant Baum loved the military.
Carson: “Selfless service is the big one. You know at any time that you might have to leave your family to help somebody else out. Whether its another family or another country.”
Staff Sergeant Mark Baum will be buried today with full military honors including this honor guard. He will recieve a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star. Baum is survived by his wife and three small children.
Listen:
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[audio: reports20090302stryker.mp3]
More information:
Learn more about the 56th Stryker brigade at WHYY’s Impact of War project.
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