Staff Sgt. Charles D. Allen, 28, of Wasilla, Alaska, died Jan. 4, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire during combat operations.
Allen was assigned to the 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Wash.
Allen was an expert at bow fishing — a technique he learned from his father and a pastime he was crazy for.
"We almost crashed a car because he thought he saw a carp jump out of a lake," said Kerensa Allen, his wife.
He'd spent 10 years in the Army and had been stationed in Georgia, Louisiana and North and South Carolina. In Iraq, he was willing to leave the relative safety of a base when an infantry battalion came calling: It needed someone to help spell its team of tired front-line medics.
On his first day, he was mortared while treating wounded at the scene of a car bombing, made several runs to the field hospital under fire and had a car bomb go off within 100 yards of his Stryker.
"Sgt. Allen thanked me for the opportunity and asked if he could go back tomorrow," recalled 1st Sgt. Marlo Montes.
On his time off, Allen played video games and watched cartoons with his 7-year-old son, Orion.
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