Pfc. Jason M. Kropat
Born April 10, 1984 in Sullivan Co. NY
Died March 9, 2010 in Afghanistan
Jason Kropat grew up in Smallwood, New York, and was an active outdoorsman. He loved to hunt and fish, one time catching a 22″ trout, which earned him a photograph in the local paper. Spending a lot of his time outdoors with his friends, Jason was an avid ATV rider. When he first rode a new one he bought, it flipped. The first words out of his mouth were, “Aw geez that sucks.” He built a trailer to haul the ATV and camping equipment a couple of miles into the woods. The first trip he made, the trailer broke apart less than halfway to his destination. Jason was a prankster from an early age, from the time he and a friend were jumping into puddles to break the ice on top, only to find he broke through an uncapped septic tank in the final try, to sneaking cigarettes, burning down trees and getting into other assorted mishaps. After high school, Jason gave roofing and carpentry a try until November 2008 when he enlisted in the Army, because besides his family and friends, his country meant the world to him. He was assigned to Fort Campbell in March of 2009 and in January of 2010 he deployed as an infantryman with the 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He had made time before he left to visit his parent’s homes in Texas. Jason was killed along with Sgt. Jonathan J. Richardson on March 9 when insurgents attacked their unit using small arms, indirect and rocket-propelled grenade fires. His awards and decorations include: the Army Commendation Medal; an Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; and Weapons Qualification, M4, expert. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze Star. Jason is survived by his parents, Glenn and Kathleen of Texas and three sisters. Jason went from being a kid who never did anything easy in life, running around until all hours of the night into a soldier that other soldiers wanted for their battle buddy. Loyal to his friends, they were loyal back to him.
Burial: Evergreen Cemetery in Bethel, New York
The Pfc. Jason M. Kropat by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
