Fallen Soldier: Curtis L. Norris

Army Sgt. Curtis Lee Norris, 28, of Dansville, Mich., was assigned to the 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, N.Y. During his second tour, Norris was killed on December 23, 2006, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad.

Norris was a 1997 graduate of Dansville High School. Upon graduating, he chose to continue his family’s legacy and become the third generation of his family to enlist in the military. Wanting to travel and see what the world had to offer, Norris joined the Army.

A devoted family man, those who know him say he shared a temperament and love for flying with his father and loved to hunt with his older brother. "You couldn't ask for a more gentle, loving person than Curt," said Barb Myers, Norris' grandmother. "He was always happy-go-lucky, always had a smile for you. We miss him dearly."

Norris left behind his wife, Rose, and then-five-year-old daughter, Kira, “who could light up his eyes ever since the day she was born.”