Command Sergeant Major James Blankenbecler, 40, of Alexandria, Va. was assigned to 1st Battalion, 44th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, Fort Hood, Texas. He was killed October 1, 2003, when improvised explosives and rocket-propelled grenades were fired on his convoy in Samarra, Iraq. He was the highest ranking enlisted soldier to be killed in hostile fire in the war in Iraq and had been there for less than a month.

CSM Blankenbecler was born in Arlington, VA and attended the old Groveton High School in Fairfax County. He played baseball, basketball, and was quarterback on the varsity football team. Shortly after graduation, CSM Blankenbecler joined the Army.

“After graduation, he didn’t really know what he wanted to do,” said his mother, Joanne Blankenbecler, “and in January 1983, he joined the Army, where he thrived. It was always his dream to be a command sergeant major, and he reached his dream,”

CSM Blankenbecler is survived by his wife, Linne and their three children.