HELENA, Mont.-
Staff Sgt. Shane Becker, who was killed in Iraq this week and grew up in Greeley, Colo., was a patriot, a proud father, and a good soldier, his father said Friday.
Becker believed he was making Iraq a better place and making the United State safer for his children, said Joe Becker, who lives in the Helena Valley in Montana.
“Shane was the kind of kid every father dreams of having,” he said. “He grew up to be a fine young man.”
Shane Becker, a soldier with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, was killed near Baghdad on Tuesday. He had just returned to Iraq after a brief visit with his family in Alaska, where he witnessed the birth of his daughter Cheyenna, Joe Becker said.
Shane graduated high school in Colorado and joined the service out of Helena in the early 1990s. He was on his second combat tour in Iraq. His commendations included the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.
Joe Becker said his family has a long military history, but Shane was the first to be killed in the line of duty.
“We come from a family that firmly believes in protecting the U.S. and what it stands for,” he said. “Shane believed in what he was doing. He loved his country, and he felt he was doing the job he was meant to do.”
Shane, his wife, Crystal, and their 7-year-old daughter, Sierra, stopped in Helena on their way from Texas to Shane’s new duty station at Fort Richardson, Alaska, in October 2005.
During his visit, Shane got to spend time with siblings, Christopher and Nicole, who live in Missoula, and Adam, who lives in Helena.
“They sat at this table looking at old pictures and laughing their heads off while smoking cigars,” said Shane’s stepmother, Jean. “He said they were doing a lot of good over there.”
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Information from: Independent Record,
