Fort Carson – Army Lt. Col. Eric J. Kruger came from a long line of warriors.
His great-grandfather served in World War I, his grandfather in World War II, his father in Vietnam.
When it came time for Kruger to go to Iraq, he thought of it simply as his turn, his duty.
On Nov. 2, his first day in Iraq, a roadside bomb exploded in Baghdad, killing him and two other soldiers.
About 400 people gathered in Soldiers’ Memorial Chapel on Wednesday to honor Kruger, 40, of Garland, Texas, the deputy commander of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team. Kruger is the 174th – and the highest-ranking – soldier from Fort Carson to die in Iraq.
He left his wife, Sara, and four children, Caitlin, Joshua, Christian and Elise.
“The hole in my heart and in my memory, it is immeasurable,” said Lt. Col. Steven Parker, a longtime friend of Kruger’s who is stationed at the Pentagon but flew in to speak at the memorial service.
Parker said Kruger rarely passed up adventure. There was the time in Africa when Kruger persuaded Parker and another soldier to go watch the migration of thousands of animals in northeastern Botswana. While most sightseers would have been satisfied with a perch high on a hill, Kruger was not. He rented an airplane.
“Right now, Eric Kruger is on the high ground,” Parker told the hushed church. “He fought for freedom, and he willingly died for his family, his friends and his country.”
Kruger wasn’t the kind of person, Parker said, who allowed his friends to be overly serious.
“He was very serious about his business, but at any moment, he knew the value of levity. He knew the value of not taking yourself too seriously, all the while understanding the seriousness of our business. … You could find that in places that were dangerous at times, Eric would always find a way to break the tension.”
Kruger held bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Southern Methodist University. He enlisted in the Army in 1989; completed Airborne and Ranger training; served in Bahrain from August 1997 to January 1998; and served in Afghanistan for a year, starting in February 2005.
Col. Jeff Bannister, commander of the 3,600-soldier 2nd BCT, which has just begun a year-long tour in Iraq, sent a letter to be read Wednesday at the service and said Kruger’s people skills and his ability to communicate with soldiers under his command and with top military leaders were among the best he had ever seen.
“He wanted to make sure that everything he did was right,” Bannister wrote. “He was not only a great soldier but a devoted family man. He had an eternal love for his wife, Sara, and his four kids.”
“At the end of the day on Nov. 2, no one could have asked for more,” Bannister wrote.
Staff writer Erin Emery can be reached at 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com.
