Ken moved to Washington County from San Diego with his father and stepmother at age 7. As a teenager, he spent hours tinkering with his computer. Once, he visited an Intel plant and got a ride in a Mercedes Benz, learning about the company from an executive. Dulled by the slow pace of classes at Forest Grove High School, he earned his General Educational Development degree a year early and signed up with the Army to get money for college. Months later, he joked with LaBlanc that the days he thought he had wasted playing and fixing his video game machine later paid off in the Army. They had sharpened his marksmanship skills. He had planned to travel to help in Afghanistan after his tour in Iraq. Later he had hoped to study computer science at an area college. A father whose only son was killed in Iraq says he is proud of the man whose intelligence and independence led him to take risks. Ken was a tough, quiet and kind man who was easily embarrassed by his father's hugs and kisses and planned to attend college after his return and become a software mogul. Those who knew him say he rarely lost his cool, even on the day when he took his father's car for a ride and drove it into a ditch. The 17-year-old managed to get the car out, drove it home, parked it in the driveway, grabbed a snack and headed quietly to his bedroom to listen to music without saying a word to his father. Later, a neighbor who lived two doors down from the family in Cornelius, heard screaming in the driveway. "The car's wrecked and Kenny's dad is screaming" and trying to figure out what happened. He is survived by his father, Ken Leisten Sr., and stepmother, Lisa LaBlanc and mother, Kim Strahan. He was 20.

Army
National Guard
2nd Battalion
162nd Infantry
Corvallis, Ore∼Kim Strahan's 18-year search for her son ended when she saw his face on the television screen. While watching the morning news, Strahan learned that Ken Leisten Jr. died July 28 when a roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Taji, Iraq. There was no doubt that the Oregon National Guardsman was her 20-year-old son. "At first, I was like, 'No,'" said Strahan, whose son moved away with his father at age 2. "My second thought was, 'Now I know where he is.'" A few hundred people gathered in Portland to remember Leisten, of Cornelius, Ore., as a tough, quiet and kind man who was easily embarrassed by his father's hugs and kisses. He was stationed in Corvallis, Ore. Leisten planned to attend college after his return and become a software mogul. Sgt. 1st Class Phillip V. Jacques, who was also wounded in the attack, recalled Leisten sharing his water with Iraqi children in the 125-degree heat. "His face is embedded in those children's minds," said Jacques. "That's how all these guys are. They ask for so little and they give so much." Leisten is also survived by his father, Ken Leisten Sr., and stepmother, Lisa LaBlanc.
Leisten quit school but earned a General Educational Development certificate at 17. Instead of going to college, he enlisted, hoping his military paycheck and the chance of a scholarship would pay for his education. He dreamed of a career in computers and of becoming Oregon's version of Bill Gates.
He was assigned to the Oregon Guard's 1st Battalion, 162nd Infantry, based in Forest Grove, but voluntarily switched units to ensure a tour in Iraq. He went overseas with the Corvallis-based 2nd Battalion, 162nd Infantry and had been part of a unit supplementing the 39th Infantry Brigade of the Arkansas Guard.