Garrett C. Knoll

Died: April 23, 2007

Rank: Private First Class

Unit: 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division

Branch: U.S. Army

Private First Class Garrett C. Knoll died on April 23, 2007, of wounds he suffered when a suicide car bomber detonated an improvised explosive device next to his patrol base in As Sadah, Iraq. Eight other paratroopers were killed and 20 more were wounded in the deadliest single incident for the 82nd Airborne since the Vietnam War. The 23-year-old combat medic served proudly with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division out of Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Knoll had been serving in Iraq for only two short months at the time of his death. Hundreds of family, friends, and members of the close-knit community of Bad Axe, Michigan, gathered on May 4, 2007, at the Bad Axe High School gymnasium to honor their fallen hero. He was buried in the Verona Cemetery in Verona, Michigan.