Timothy Burke killed during military sweep

HOLLYWOOD -- In two months, he would have been safe.

Army Spc. Timothy Burke, 24, was scheduled to leave Iraq in December. On Wednesday, his mother, Sharon Paulette, knew from the knock on her door he didn't make it.

"I can't describe it," Paulette said. "I knew that moment it was them. I started screaming."

Paulette said the military officials who knocked told her Burke was killed in an attack Wednesday in Taji, Iraq, during the sweep of a building suspected of containing a cache of weapons. The Department of Defense had not officially confirmed his death as of Thursday.

The Hollywood man is at least the fourth South Floridian to be killed in combat in Iraq in the last three weeks. As of Thursday, 2,729 American service members had been killed in Iraq, 336 in Afghanistan, according to the military.

Gone are Burke's dreams of becoming a firefighter and paramedic, a path that led him to the Army to further his education. Gone are the fishing trips with friends and relatives. And gone is the quiet, 6-foot-1 soldier who openly worried in April that he would never see his family again.

Burke, a 2001 graduate of South Broward High School, was mourned by school staff and students along with his relatives Thursday. His brother Matt and his cousin Brad Fatout both teach at the school.

"It hit the school hard," Fatout said.

Burke's father died in 1985, leaving Paulette to raise three boys on her own. But the three stayed out of trouble through sports. Burke played football and wrestled for South Broward, and played baseball in a recreation league.

After graduating from high school in 2001, he worked at construction jobs while getting certified to be a firefighter/EMT. Michael Huttemeyer, who worked with Burke in construction, said the young man became like a brother.

"I've had a lot of problems, family-wise, and he's always helped me out," Huttemeyer said.

But Burke kept at his dream and joined the Army in 2004 to become a paramedic, despite his mother's pleas to stay out of the military.

"We were praying he wouldn't have to go to Iraq," she said.

In December 2005, Burke was shipped to the Middle East with B Troop, 7th Squadron, 10th Cavalry, a tour that was dangerous and terrifying, Paulette said.

"It upset him when he had to shoot his first ... " she said, trailing off. "It was really bad over there."

He didn't talk about his tour, instead focusing on December when he could become a military recruiter and leave Iraq for good, she said.

In April, Burke was given leave and had no trouble re-adjusting and relaxing with his family. But when his leave ended, he told his family he was scared he would never see them again.

"It was so hard for him to get on that plane and go back," Paulette said.

The months went by.

"I just figured he'd be safe since he made it so far," Paulette said.

"So close," said Burke's sister-in-law, Monica Burke.

"Two months," said his uncle, Scott Fatout. "Damn it."

As relatives waited for Burke's body to return to the United States, they took consolation that the Army calls Burke's mission a success: Weapons were found and seized. But the sadness creeps in.

"One minute you say, `He's an American hero, stand tall, be proud,'" said Brad Fatout. "Then you realize: You're never going to see him again."

From the Sun-Sentinel