Army 1st Lt. Kenneth Michael Ballard, 26, a tank platoon leader, of Mountain View, California was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 37th Armored Regiment, 1st Armored Division, from Friedberg, Germany. He was killed on May 30th, 2004 during a firefight with insurgents in Najaf, Iraq from an accidental discharge of a weapon in his tank.

In 1995, Ballard graduated from Mountain View High in California. After graduation, he joined the Army and served in both Bosnia and Macedonia. He took a leave to earn an International Relations degree from Middle Tennessee State University in 2002, at which point he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant. Ballard’s plan was to earn a Master’s degree and to work in Washington D.C. after serving in the Army for two more years.

1LT Ballard had a very close relationship with his mother, communicating with her in some form almost once a day. He was an only child and she was a single mother so he knew it was important to keep in touch. Ballard was originally scheduled to return eight days before he was killed.

1LT Ballard is survived by his mother, Karen