| Graduation Year | Class of 1991 |
| Date of Passing | Sep 02, 2008 |
| About | Soldier's memorial service set for Friday Thursday, September 18, 2008 5:00 AM EDT By LISA SATAYUT Sun Staff Writer A memorial service will be held Friday to honor a Weidman soldier who was killed earlier this month while on a mission in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriguez, 35, died Sept. 2 when his unit came under fire in Ana Kalay Afghanistan. His mother, Virginia Richardson, said he will be greatly missed by the community and his family. Those wishing to honor Rodriguez can do so at the Mt. Pleasant Community Church Friday at 4 p.m. “He will be greatly missed by the entire community,” Richardson said. “I will miss him, his family will miss him.” Rodriguez grew up in Mt. Pleasant and graduated from the Mt. Pleasant High School in 1991. “He loved his country,” Richardson said. “He also loved animals,” she said. Rodriguez was assigned to a K-9 unit. “He would train dogs to search for bodies and scents,” she said. Rodriguez’s love for animals was a contributing factor in his decision to join the army full time. “When he found out he could train dogs he was all over it,” she said. Richardson said Rodriguez was in the Army reserves before he decided to join full time. “He wanted to try it out,” she said of the reserves. “Less than two years later he went full time.” Rodriguez had three young children and was been married for nine years to his wife Laura Rodriguez. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. More coverage and photos of Sgt. Rodriguez and his dog Jocko are on The Sun Insider blog, accessible through TheMorningSun.com. URL: http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2008/09/18/news/doc48d196bee4bd7733585293.prt © 2008 themorningsun.com, a Journal Register Property Soldier from Weidman killed Saturday, September 6, 2008 3:00 AM EDT A soldier from Weidman died Tuesday in combat in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced late Friday. Sgt. 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriguez, 35, a military policeman, was killed in Ana Kalay, Afghanistan, when his patrol came under small-arms fire, according to a statement from the Department of Defense. Rodriguez was a dog handler for the military police. He was assigned to the K-9 unit of the 527th Military Police Company, 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th MP Brigade, Ansbach, Germany, according to the Pentagon. There was no word on the fate of Rodriguez' dog. According to postings on Internet forums, Rodriguez, known to his friends as "150," loved Jeeps. His wife's MySpace page Friday night showed a slide show of Rodriguez with his family, his dog, of the two in action in Afghanistan, and included a photo of a makeshift military memorial erected in his honor. It also included a blog entry of a poem titled "Guardians of the Night," celebrating the strength and courage of a military working dog. Funeral arrangements have not yet been announced. Ana Kalay is in central Afghanistan, in a remote, mountainous region about halfway between Kabul, the capitol, and Kandahar. Rodriguez is the 18th member of the military with Michigan ties to die in Afghanistan since Operation Enduring Freedom began nearly seven years ago. A link to the online memorial to Rodriguez is on The Sun Insider blog, accessible on themorningsun.com. URL: http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2008/09/06/local/20080906-archive7.prt © 2008 themorningsun.com, a Journal Register Property |
