SGT AUBREY D. BELL
214th Military Police Company
Army Sgt. Aubrey D. Bell,
Age 33, of Tuskegee, Alabama
Assigned to the 214th Military Police Company, Alabama National Guard
Killed October 27, 2003 at Al Bayra Police Station in Baghdad when
his unit came under small-arms fire and an improvised explosive device detonated.
(www.militarycity.com)
Assigned to the 214th Military Police Company, Alabama National Guard
Killed October 27, 2003 at Al Bayra Police Station in Baghdad when
his unit came under small-arms fire and an improvised explosive device detonated.
(www.militarycity.com)
Alabama Guard member
killed in Iraqi bombing
Associated Press
(www.militarycity.com)
Associated Press
(www.militarycity.com)
BIRMINGHAM,
Ala. — An Alabama Army National Guard member serving in Iraq was killed
in a Baghdad bombing that injured several other members of his company.
The National Guard identified the victim as Sgt. Aubrey D. Bell, 33, of Tuskegee. He served in the 214th Military Police Company.
Nine other members of the unit were injured in the Oct. 27 attack, which occurred at the Al Bayra police station in Baghdad, the National Guard said in a statement.
Bell’s longtime girlfriend, Philandria Ezell, said Bell was a father figure to her four children and talked with her about them when he called home on the morning of Oct. 26.
“They’re trying to hold on. It’s hard,” Ezell told The Birmingham News.
Bell’s grandmother, Estella Walker Bell, tried to talk about him between tearful pauses.
“He was a quiet child,” she said. “And ... anything I asked of him to do, he would do it.”
One of three brothers, Bell worked at Russell Corp. in Montgomery. He was a veteran of the first Gulf war and had been in the Guard about 14 years.
Bell’s death marked the first time an Alabama National Guard member has died from hostile fire since major fighting ended in Iraq.
Last week, Pfc. Paul Bueche of Daphne, a member of the Birmingham-based 131st Aviation Regiment, was killed by an exploding helicopter tire in Iraq while he was trying to change the tire. Bueche’s funeral was Monday.
About 150 members of the 214th MP Company, which is based in Alexander City and a detachment in Tuskegee, have been in the Persian Gulf region since late May. They have been training Iraqi police officers and doing security patrols in Baghdad.
The 1165th MP Company, based in Fairhope, is doing similar duty with about 125 troops. Soldiers from the 214th and the 1165th are housed in the same compound.
The National Guard identified the victim as Sgt. Aubrey D. Bell, 33, of Tuskegee. He served in the 214th Military Police Company.
Nine other members of the unit were injured in the Oct. 27 attack, which occurred at the Al Bayra police station in Baghdad, the National Guard said in a statement.
Bell’s longtime girlfriend, Philandria Ezell, said Bell was a father figure to her four children and talked with her about them when he called home on the morning of Oct. 26.
“They’re trying to hold on. It’s hard,” Ezell told The Birmingham News.
Bell’s grandmother, Estella Walker Bell, tried to talk about him between tearful pauses.
“He was a quiet child,” she said. “And ... anything I asked of him to do, he would do it.”
One of three brothers, Bell worked at Russell Corp. in Montgomery. He was a veteran of the first Gulf war and had been in the Guard about 14 years.
Bell’s death marked the first time an Alabama National Guard member has died from hostile fire since major fighting ended in Iraq.
Last week, Pfc. Paul Bueche of Daphne, a member of the Birmingham-based 131st Aviation Regiment, was killed by an exploding helicopter tire in Iraq while he was trying to change the tire. Bueche’s funeral was Monday.
About 150 members of the 214th MP Company, which is based in Alexander City and a detachment in Tuskegee, have been in the Persian Gulf region since late May. They have been training Iraqi police officers and doing security patrols in Baghdad.
The 1165th MP Company, based in Fairhope, is doing similar duty with about 125 troops. Soldiers from the 214th and the 1165th are housed in the same compound.
Excerpt from: "OCTOBER
CASUALTIES"
Associated Press
www.usatoday.com
Associated Press
www.usatoday.com
Sgt. Aubrey Bell grew up poor. He was raised in the woods drawing water from a well and eating whatever his mother stuck between two slices of bread. Butter sandwiches. Mayonnaise sandwiches. Ketchup sandwiches. You name it.
His life, as his friends tell it, was taking a little and making a lot.
"He was just a cheerful, happy dude," said Eric Wingate, a childhood friend.
Sergeant Bell, 32, didn't especially savor the intense Iraqi heat, or sleeping in tents with 100 men and 100 pairs of ripening combat boots.
But he liked children. And in Iraq, the 280-pound soldier in the XXXL uniform drew them like a magnet. "I used to always ask him, why you let them get so close to you?" said his fianc? Philandria Ezell. "And he'd say, honey, they're just kids."
On Oct. 27, Sergeant Bell, an Alabama National Guardsman with the 214th Military Police Company, was shot in the stomach in front of a police station, where he had been training Iraqi police officers.
