Honor and Remember ~ A New Hampshire Hero

Remembering Sgt. 1st Class Robert E. Rooney, 43, died Sept. 25, 2003 in an accident in Kuwait. He was struck by a forklift while unloading on a pier in Shuabai Port/Spod.

An Operation Desert Storm veteran and 21-year U.S. Army National Guardsman, he is the first Massachusetts Army National Guard soldier to die in a war zone since World War II.

Robert was a longtime resident of Plymouth, MA but had moved to Nashua, NH with his wife Diane, in 2002, to be closer to family members. He had a passion for NASCAR and was following the circuit and his favorite driver, Jeff Gordon. While he was in Kuwait, a friend taped the races and sent them to him. “Jeff Gordon was his idol,” Diane recalls. “He has so much Gordon stuff in our home it’s not funny! That’s pretty much all we would buy him for Christmas”.

He was a member of the National Guard’s 379th Engineer Company, based in Bourne. His unit was mobilized in January to support Operation Enduring Freedom. The 379th Engineer Company’s primary mission is to construct and recontour secondary and main roadways.

“Sergeant Rooney was a devoted husband, father and a respected colleague. We mourn his loss. He honors his family, his unit and the National Guard with his dedication, service and sacrifice for our nation.”

Sgt. Rooney joined the National Guard in 1982 and for the past 20 years worked full-time at Camp Edwards at the Massachusetts Military Reservation at the unit training equipment site, where he was an operational maintenance shop chief.

The unit training equipment site services all Mass. National Guard units, providing and maintaining vital equipment, such as heavy trucks and self-propelled artillery for training throughout the year.

TO REMEMBER IS TO HONOR….