Army Specialist David Hess

Army Specialist David Alan Hess, 25, of Ruskin, Florida, was a land-combat electronic missile-system repairer assigned to Company D, 526th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He died on October 10, 2010, in the Zhari District of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, when an improvised explosive device struck his vehicle during a combat mission.

SPC Hess graduated from Parkersburg South High School in West Virginia in 2003. He played baseball and football and contributed to the school’s championship wrestling team. After moving to Florida, he worked in construction and manufactured aluminum pool enclosures. He enlisted in the Army in April 2009 to provide greater security for his wife and family. SPC Hess arrived at Fort Campbell that November and deployed to Afghanistan in June 2010.

SPC Hess was remembered by those who knew him as a vibrant, patriotic, and dedicated young man who was deeply full of life. His father affectionately described him as the quintessential "all-American kid" who possessed a lifelong passion for sports.

SPC Hess was survived by his wife and son.