Valley soldier killed in Iraq

Jan. 9, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

WASILLA - Army Staff Sgt. Charles Allen always wanted to be a soldier.

As an eighth-grader growing up in Wasilla, Allen decided to get involved with the Junior ROTC program, but found out there was no such program at Wasilla High School.

So he applied to the school district for a special waiver to go to Colony High, where he became a founding member of that school's brand new program.

&#8220As an eighth grader, to pull something like that is pretty impressive,” said 1st Sgt. David Gogert, who has been an ROTC instructor at Colony since 1993.

Allen fulfilled his lifelong goal of joining the military when he enlisted before leaving high school.

He then left for basic training shortly after graduation. He planned to make a career out the Army, and had a wife and one child at Fort Lewis, Wash.

On Jan. 4, Allen, 28, was killed in Baghdad by small arms fire, becoming the fourth Mat-Su soldier to die in the Iraq conflict since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in 2003.

According to Joe Hitt, a public information officer at Ft. Lewis, Allen had been in Iraq since February of 2006.

He went as part of the 296th Brigade Support Division, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. Before that, Allen served in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Korea and at Fort Wainwright.

Hitt said Allen worked as a medic, helping wounded soldiers by setting up aid stations in battle zones, and had been decorated several times for meritorious conduct both on and off the battle field.

That Allen would give his life for his comrades came as little surprise to those who knew the young man who came of age in the Colony JROTC program. Ed Strabel was the senior Army instructor when Allen was in the program.

&#8220He was one of those kids that's just a great kid to have in the program,” Strabel said Monday.

Strabel described Allen as a dedicated, determined and focused young man who knew exactly what he wanted out of life.

&#8220He was just a great kid,” he said. &#8220He knew what he wanted to do in life, and knew what he needed to do to achieve his goals.”

Sgt. Gogert said Allen was the epitome of a good soldier.

&#8220He was very much an asset to his community and his country,” he said.

Both instructors were taking the news hard Monday, as Allen was the second JROTC student from the Valley to die in Iraq in the past five months. Shane Woods, a 2003 Palmer High graduate and JROTC member who also trained under Gogert and Strabel, died in August.

&#8220It's like losing a little brother,” Gogert said.

A memorial service for Allen will be Thursday at Fort Lewis. Services in the Valley have not yet been announced.

Contact Matt Tunseth at

352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com.