Charles D. Allen

Died: January 4, 2007

Rank: Staff Sergeant

Unit: 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

Branch: U.S. Army

Staff Sergeant Charles D. Allen was shot during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq, on January 4, 2007. The 28-year-old combat medic served with the 296th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Lewis, Washington. He had volunteered to leave the safety of the base to assist an infantry battalion whose medics needed a rest. On his first day with that battalion, he was mortared while treating the 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 vehicle. He thanked the commander for the opportunity and asked if he could go back the next day. He is buried at Tahoma National Cemetery in Kent, Washington.