In Memoriam...

From here:

Tuesday, July 11 2006 @ 04:13 AM EST
Contributed by: River97
Views: 197

Kare11 -- A Detroit Lakes area soldier was killed in Iraq when a roadside bomb went off near the Humvee he was driving, relatives said Sunday.

Army Spec. Troy Carlin Linden, 22, of Rochert, was killed in Anbar province on Saturday, his siblings said. He had been home on leave just six months earlier, when his family threw him a surprise welcome home party.

The family's farm home east of Detroit Lakes was decorated with flags and ribbons on Sunday as relatives and friends gathered together.

"When we see a flag, we think of Troy," said his brother, Ryan Linden.

as a 2002 graduate of Detroit Lakes High School. He enlisted in the Army in Billings, Mont., where he had moved after graduating, but his siblings described him as a Minnesotan through and through. They said he was a humble all-American who was proud to serve his country.

"I noticed a real change in my brother from the time he went to basic training and then overseas," Ryan Linden said. "For the first time I didn't see him as my little brother, I saw him as a man."

He said his brother, in his phone calls from Iraq, would try to ease their mother's mind by telling her he drove the last truck in the convoy, even when he didn't.

"It was hard to hear his voice over there because we could tell how sad he was because he wanted to be home, but we reassured him that we loved him and how proud we were of him," his brother said.

His sister, Sarah Nelson, also expressed pride.

"I was proud of him the day he joined the service, and I was proud of him every step he took," she said.

Troy Linden's dog, Rusty, has been staying with the relatives.

"He was looking forward to having a dog and coming home and teaching him how to swim, play, taking him Jeeping with him and stuff," his sister said.

Funeral arrangements were pending, but his family said he will be buried in Detroit Lakes, tentatively late next week.

"He'll never be gone, he'll always be a part of us. He'll be with us forever," Nelson said.

Forty-one people with Minnesota ties have died in connection with the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although Troy was not connected with our son Doug's contingent, D.L. High School is relatively small, so no doubt they knew each other.

My eternal thanks, as well as my condolences, go out to Troy, his family, and his comrades who served with him. May he rest now in GOD's loving arms.


(Filed under Heroes)