Lucas T. White dies from combat injuries

Hunting, fishing and camping were passions of U.S. Army Sgt. Lucas White, activities that kept him connected to the traditions of his people.

An enrolled member of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation in Oregon with family members who belong to the Yakama Nation, Sgt. White enlisted in the Army in 2001, serving first in Afghanistan before deploying to Iraq in June, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

White was killed in action Monday (Nov. 6).

He was leading a Stryker patrol in Baghdad when his unit was ambushed by small-weapons fire and hit by an improvised explosive device, said his mother, Julie Brooks, of Polson, Mont.

White spent his childhood in Pendleton, Ore., before moving with his family to White Swan, on the Yakama Indian Reservation, where he graduated from high school in 1998, his mother said.

He deployed to Afghanistan in July 2003; upon his return in April 2004, White was stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y., with his wife.

In January 2005, White was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division at Fort Lewis.

Funny and honest, White, 28, was "a friend to a great many people on both sides of the Cascades," his wife, Jennifer White, of Moses Lake, said Wednesday. Above all, White "loved his nation, which compelled him to join the U.S. Army," she added.

A memorial service will be held for White Saturday in Baghdad. His body is to be returned to White Swan next Thursday, where he will be honored with a traditional Native American ceremony.

At White's request, his family has arranged for his burial at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

From the Seattle Times