Staff Sergeant Wentz Shanaberger III, 33, of Naples, Florida was assigned to the 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C. He was killed March 24, 2004, when his convoy came under attack by individuals using small arms and an improvised explosive device. They were investigating a suspicious vehicle near Baghdad, Iraq.

SSG Shanaberger was raised in the Tampa area and joined the Army as soon as he graduated from Zephyrhills High School. His primary duties with the Army had always been as a military policeman, but he also had completed training with the 82nd Airborne and the elite Ranger program. SSG Shanaberger did tours in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and in Bosnia, Korea and Panama in his 14 years in the Army.

“He’s been to every hot spot since he joined. He and I would have many, many heated discussions about it,” said his mother Cheryl, “He was glad that he was able to be over there. That was his job. He thought he was making a difference.”

SSG Shanaberger leaves behind his wife, Corey and five children, Scott, Jesse, Jack, Audrey and Grace.