SSG WENTZ JEROME HENRY SHANABERGER, III
21st Military Police Company
16th Military Police Brigade
XVIIIth Airborne Corps
Army
Staff Sgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, Age 33, of Naples, Fla.
Assigned to 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade,
XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed March 24, 2003 when he
came under attack by individuals using small arms and an improvised
explosive device as he was investigating a suspicious vehicle in Iraq.
21st Floridian killed in Iraq conflict
Riding in the first vehicle of a convoy, Sgt. Wentz ''Barron'' Shanaberger III, an Army MP stationed near Baghdad, stopped with two other soldiers to check out a suspicious car before letting the convoy go on.
As people started piling out of the car, one of the passengers opened up with an automatic rifle. Another had an explosive device.
Three bullets hit Shanaberger, killing the Zephyrhills native.
Shanaberger, 33, is remembered by his family for his powerful voice, a wry sense of humor, deep patriotism and an intense love for his family, including five children.
Shanaberger, who was killed Mar. 24, will be buried with military honors Thursday next to his grandmother in a cemetery in Dade City, family members said. He was the 21st soldier from Florida to be killed since the war in Iraq began.
Shanaberger was a staff sergeant in the 21st Military Police Company of the 16th MP Brigade of the 18th Airborne Corps, stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Soldiering was time-consuming, said his wife, Corey, but Shanaberger always found time for the kids, ages 3 to 11. He went to their baseball, football, and swimming practices, and on trips to the park just to feed the ducks. He built a playhouse that was the envy of the neighborhood near Fayetteville, N.C.
They last spoke three days before he was killed.
''He said he loved us, that he missed us and he wanted more photos of the children,'' Corey Shanaberger said.
Back in Fort Pierce, Shanaberger's mother talked of her son and his dedication.
A former Boy Scout and a member of the Civil Air Patrol as a teenager, Shanaberger had wanted to be a soldier since he was in high school ROTC, said his mother, Cheryl.
When Shanaberger talked to his mother about going to Iraq, she was worried partly because he has a family.
'He said, `Mom, it's my job. I go out and fight for them. I want to
preserve. I want to make sure when they grow up they have the same
opportunities I had.' He believed in that,'' his mother said.
Florida soldier killed in Iraq attack
Associated Press
Staff Sgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, of Naples, was investigating a suspicious vehicle Wednesday when he was attacked by a group using small arms and an improvised explosive device, the Army said.
Shanaberger, who was assigned to the 21st Military Police Company, was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. He leaves behind his wife and five children.
The soldier’s mother, Cheryl Shanaberger, said her son’s primary duties with the Army had always been as a military policeman, but that he also had completed training with the 82nd Airborne and the elite Ranger program.
He was raised in the Tampa area and joined the Army as soon as he graduated from Zephyrhills High School, said his mother, who lives in Port St. Lucie.
Shanaberger did tours in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and in Bosnia, Korea and Panama in his 14 years in the Army.
“He’s been to every
hot spot since he joined. He and I would have many, many heated
discussions about it,” his mother told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.
“He was glad that he was able to be over there. That was his job. He
thought he was making a difference.”
