Travis S. Bachman reported killed in Iraq

Staff Sgt. Travis S. Bachman was three weeks shy of returning home from Iraq when he was killed Wednesday by an explosion, his widow said from their home in Garden City.

Bachman, 30, a member of the 1st Battalion, 161st Field Artillery, Kansas National Guard, died at approximately 5:10 a.m. when an improvised explosive device exploded near his vehicle, according to the Kansas Adjutant General's Office.

Bachman joined the Kansas Army National Guard when he was 17 and a junior or senior in Garden City High School, Amber Bachman said of her husband. She said her husband enlisted in the National Guard because "he was very much wanting to do it. He was very much the military man."

Bachman's father, Rodney Bachman, of Garden City, had been in the Marine Corps before Travis Bachman was born, and his uncle, Roger Bachman, of Thornton, Colo., also had been a Marine.

Bachman, who was serving his second overseas deployment, was to return home late this month, Amber Bachman said. He deployed to Iraq with the 714th Security Forces in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"He was three weeks away from being done," she said. "They were training their replacements."

Bachman had served in Kosovo from 2004 to 2006. He deployed for Operation Noble Eagle in 2002, providing security at military bases in Kansas.

Amber and Travis Bachman would have celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on Sept. 21, she said. They have a son, Tyler, 4, and a daughter, Kaleigh, 8 months.

Bachman's parents, Rodney and Connie Bachman, also live in Garden City. Funeral arrangements are pending.

"My sincere condolences go out to Travis' family and friends," said Maj. Gen. Tod Bunting, Kansas adjutant general. "He was a man who loved his country and loved being a Guardsman. He will be missed and remembered. This country was made great and remains so today thanks to valiant patriots like Sgt. Bachman."

From the Capital-Journal