Specialist Allen Vandayburg, 20, of Mansfield, Ohio was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, Vilseck, Germany. He died April 9, 2004, when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle in Barez, Iraq. He had been in Iraq less than three weeks.

SPL Vandayburg played golf and baseball at Mansfield High School before graduating in June 2001. The next month he enlisted in the Army, serving in Kosovo and Germany before being deployed to Kuwait and on to Iraq in late March. He was posthumously awarded a Combat Infantry Badge, a Bronze Star “With Valor” and a Purple Heart.

On April 9, 2006, the second anniversary of CPL Vandayburg’s death, a Battlefield Cross memorial consisting of boots, rifle and a helmet was erected in his honor in Central Park in Mansfield.

“A.J. wanted to go into the Army and serve his country, and he wanted to come home and join the (Mansfield) police department to serve his community,” his father, Allen said. “That’s just the kind of kid he was. He was just an awesome boy all around.”

In addition to his father, SPL Vandayburg was survived by his brother, Chris, and his sister, Taylor.