Spc Troy Orion Tom
Born: April 2, 1988
Died: August 18, 2009 in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Spc. Troy O. Tom was from Beclabito, New Mexico, a small community 20 miles west of Shiprock. It has one store and no stoplights. One of four children, Troy was a gifted artist, who joined the Army after graduating from Aztec High School in 2006. Troy was an outgoing man with an interest in the outdoors and art. He always wore a smile and you never saw him mad. He joined the Army in June of 2006 partly because he wanted to physically and mentally challenge himself. Troy also liked to hunt, fish and enjoyed herding sheep when he was back on the reservation. Troy said “I decided to join for three reasons. First, I felt that it was my duty to serve my country in time of need. Second, the army sounds like a good way to gain even more physical and mental discipline. Third, it’s a good way to earn money for college. After I serve my time in the Army, I plan to go to college. There’s a school named Embry-Riddel in Prescott that I want to go to for aeronautical engineering. I’m good at math and science, so it should be easy for me.” Troy was killed at age 21 when he stepped on a roadside bomb when his unit was setting up camp after a fight with Taliban insurgents. Survivors include his parents, David and Carolyn Tom; brothers, Steve Tom, Leon Harvey; sister, Carrizoe.
Army
1st Battalion
17th Infantry Regiment
5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team
2nd Infantry Division
Fort Lewis, Washington
Burial is at Greenlawn Cemetery in Farmington, New Mexico
The Spc Troy Orion Tom by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
