Sgt. Aaron Michael Smith
Born June 3, 1984 in the U.S.A.
Died Oct. 2, 2009 in Wardak province, Afghanistan
Sgt. Aaron M. Smith, of Manhattan, Kansas, whose hero’s were anyone unafraid to voice an opinion, lived in many different places growing up; his father was a career Army man. But Aaron always considered Manhattan to be his home. He lived here during high school, staying with an aunt while he finished his education. But he had hopes of leaving Manhattan, finding his place somewhere where he could work on his dream. He was a gifted carpenter, and excelled at it. He enlisted in the Army in May of 2004 and was assigned to Fort Drum after completing basic training at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Joining the Army helped Aaron grow up; he embraced his ordinary self, who did extraordinary things. Currently assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), he was on his second deployment. He died when enemy forces attacked his unit using small arms fire on October 2. Aaron was supposed to be home in September, but he pushed his leave up to October. During his years in the military Aaron earned many awards. But the things he was most proud of were his service, his growth as a human being, and his abilities as a leader. His remains were cremated and some of his ashes were buried at Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery, half way between his mother’s home and his father’s home. Another part of his ashes will be scattered in Scotland, as he was very proud of his Scottish heritage.
The Sgt. Aaron Michael Smith by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
