Dariek E. Dehn dies 'of wounds suffered from an improvised explosive device'

A former Spangle resident who graduated from Liberty High School in 1993 was killed in an explosion in Iraq, the U.S. Army announced Monday.

Sgt. Dariek Dehn, 32, died June 2 in Sharkat from wounds from a homemade bomb, the Defense Department announced in a brief news release Monday afternoon. Further details of the incident were not immediately available, a spokeswoman for Dehn's home base of Fort Hood, Texas, could not be reached for further information.

Dehn was a member of the 6th Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division. Members of his unit have recently been operating in the Diyala Province near the Iranian border, according to a report in Stars and Stripes.

He joined the Army in 2002, and served as a cavalry scout, Nancy Bourget, a Fort Hood spokeswoman said. He had been with the 1st Cavalry Division since September 2005, and was deployed to Iraq with his unit last October.

Spokesman-Review archives indicate that Dehn was a 1993 graduate of Liberty High School who received an Army Achievement Medal in 2005.

Dehn grew up as the five of six children in rural Spokane County, said his sister, Sherri Jeske. “The Army formed a direction for him, he was really proud of being a soldier,” she said.

Dehn was deployed for about a year to Korea, where he met his wife, then came back to U.S. before being sent to Iraq.

During a visit home on leave several weeks ago, he told close relatives about the danger of military service in Iraq and some close calls he’d had, Jeske said.

“That was kind of his way of preparing if something was to happen,” his sister said. “We were just thankful to spend the time that we did with him.”

Other awards he received during his career include the Army's Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday at Heritage Funeral Home, 508 N. Government Way.

From the Spokesman Review