Oct 23, 2005 11:03 am US/Eastern
Friends, Family Remember Fallen Maryland Soldier
Randallstown, MD (WJZ/AP) ―
A soldier from Randallstown died Wednesday near Saddam Husseins ancestral home in Tikrit, Iraq.
Army Spc. Kendall K. Frederick, 21, was killed Wednesday when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during convoy operations, the Department of Defense said in a news release. Frederick was assigned to the Army Reserve's 983rd Engineer Battalion, Monclova, Ohio.
Frederick was a mechanic who worked on power generators.
Frederick had recently visited friends and family in September.
"It's sad when there's somebody close to you, and they're gone," said childhood friend Anthony Reed as he thumbed through an old yearbook. "I remember one of the last things I told him. Be safe over there."
"I had trouble sleeping last night, because I kept thinking about this man who could have been my son," said Reed's mother. "What he did in Iraq was not for himself, but for us."
The Reeds say Frederick was involved in R-OT-C at Randallstown. They say that he never feared fighting, and was aiming for a military career.
A neighbor and family friend describes Frederick as helpful and considerate.
Sidney Hyatt lives next door to the Frederick family on McDonough Road in Randallstown and says they are heartbroken over the loss of their oldest child.
Hyatt says Frederick joined the Army straight out of high school. He says he remembers Frederick coming over to shovel snow from his sidewalk without being asked.
Frederick's family has not spoken publicly about their loss.
Frederick is the fifth Marylander to die this week in Iraq, making October the deadliest month for Maryland troops since
November 2004, when five GIs were killed. Twenty-nine Marylanders have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003, according to Associated Press records.
Marine Lance Cpl. Norman W. Anderson III of Parkton died Wednesday after a car bomb exploded in Karabilah, Iraq, while he was conducting combat operations.
And on Oct. 14, three members of the Army National Guard's 243rd Engineer Company in Baltimore were killed in Al Taji, Iraq, when a tractor-trailer accidentally struck the rear of their Humvee, starting a fire and causing ammunition to detonate.
(© 2005 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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