A soldier who lived in York, Neb., for part of his childhood was among those killed in a missile attack on a helicopter in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Bader, 28, was among 15 soldiers killed when the helicopter carrying him and other troops bound for two weeks' leave was downed Sunday near Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Armored Calvary at Fort Carson, Colo. Their daughter, Taryn Makenzie, is now 14 months old. "I was so stunned, I couldn't tell you what they told me," Bader said. "He was on the helicopter. He was coming home to see us." Daniel Bader was born in southeast Nebraska town of York and lived there for part of his childhood, according to his wife and his grandmother, Katherine Bader of Grand Island. He moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., with his family while he was still in elementary school. Daniel Bader joined the National Guard shortly after graduating from Liberty High School in Colorado Springs, going through basic training when he was 17 and joining the Army when he was 18. His parents live in Colorado Springs, and he has a brother in South Carolina and other relatives in the Nebraska towns of Palmer, Aurora and Lincoln, Tiffany Bader said. Bader said her husband was a great man who never became upset. "If I could compare him to anybody, it would be Jim Carey; that was the type of humor my husband had," she said. Bader mourned that he would never again see their daughter. "We need to take care of what's going on over there," she said. "I think we're there for a purpose."
A soldier who lived in York, Neb., for part of his childhood was among those killed in a missile attack on a helicopter in Iraq. Army Staff Sgt. Daniel Bader, 28, was among 15 soldiers killed when the helicopter carrying him and other troops bound for two weeks' leave was downed Sunday near Fallujah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Armored Calvary at Fort Carson, Colo. Their daughter, Taryn Makenzie, is now 14 months old. "I was so stunned, I couldn't tell you what they told me," Bader said. "He was on the helicopter. He was coming home to see us." Daniel Bader was born in southeast Nebraska town of York and lived there for part of his childhood, according to his wife and his grandmother, Katherine Bader of Grand Island. He moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., with his family while he was still in elementary school. Daniel Bader joined the National Guard shortly after graduating from Liberty High School in Colorado Springs, going through basic training when he was 17 and joining the Army when he was 18. His parents live in Colorado Springs, and he has a brother in South Carolina and other relatives in the Nebraska towns of Palmer, Aurora and Lincoln, Tiffany Bader said. Bader said her husband was a great man who never became upset. "If I could compare him to anybody, it would be Jim Carey; that was the type of humor my husband had," she said. Bader mourned that he would never again see their daughter. "We need to take care of what's going on over there," she said. "I think we're there for a purpose."
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