JACKSON - Spc. Michael S. Weger, a Pascagoula native killed in Iraq last week, is remembered by his family as a good son and loving father who liked camping and rarely met a stranger.
Weger, 30, died Oct. 12 along with two other soldiers in the Army's 20th Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division when an improvised explosive device hit the Humvee they were driving in Iraq. The unit is based in Fort Hood, Texas.
"He was a good little guy. He never met a stranger - a really outgoing, really good father," said Sonya Gentry, who married Weger's cousin 12 years ago. "He had a little boy, 5 years old. Damion is his name. He was a really good dad, good son, good brother. He was just an all-around nice guy."
Gentry, speaking to The Associated Press from her home in Moss Point, said she saw Weger last year when he returned to his birthplace for his grandfather's funeral. She said he seemed proud of his life as a soldier.
The Defense Department listed Weger's hometown as Rochester, N.Y., but Greg Weger said his son was born in Pascagoula and lived in Houston before joining the Army.
"He had no resentments," his father has said. "He never shirked from his responsibilities."
Weger joined the Army in February 2003 and was sent to Iraq with the 1st Cavalry Division in March 2004.
"The 1st Cavalry is basically on peacekeeping missions and insurgent patrols," said Fort Hood civilian spokesman Dan Hassett.
Hassett said Weger; Capt. Dennis L. Pintor, 30, of Lima, Ohio; and Jaime Moreno, 28, of Round Lake Beach, Ill., all died of injuries sustained in the explosion. The men worked as combat engineers.
"Combat engineers build bridges, work in construction, work with some explosive ordinance devices and some demolition work," Hassett said. "Their basic task is to perform functions that allow the unit to enter a place - to break down obstacles."
Gentry said the work of a combat engineer was probably a good fit for Weger's abilities. "He's very mechanical, very good with his hands and mechanically inclined," she said.
At least 17 other soldiers from Mississippi have died in Iraq. As of Friday, the U.S. Defense Department said 1,102 soldiers had died in Operation Iraqi Freedom and 143 had died in Operation Enduring Freedom.
Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
