Zachary B. Tomczak dies 'of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire'

Sgt. Zachary Tomczak of Huron was "just a phenomenal person," his father said this morning.

Tomczak, 24, was shot and killed while on patrol in a suburb of Baghdad, his father said.

He died at 5:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Tuesday.

He served with the Army's 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

"He was just a phenomenal person," said Tomczak's father, Blaise. "As far as the military, he took that very serious. He didn't talk too much about things, but you could tell he was pretty serious about it."

This was Tomczak's fourth tour of Iraq, his father said.

Services for Tomczak will be held in Huron, but no date has been set.

From the Argus Leader

Ask those in Huron, and they'll say you couldn't ask for a better man than Sergeant Zachary Tomczak.

His 12-year-old brother couldn't ask for a better role model, his wife of two years couldn't ask for a better husband and his father couldn't ask for a better son. Adding to that list would be his high school teacher and former boss Matt Busch.

"You couldn't ask for a better employee. He never complained about what he was doing," Busch said.

Tomczak was in his fourth tour in Iraq, no doubt working for his country the same way Busch remembers Tomczak working construction for him.

"He would do any job you would ask him to do. He wouldn't complain about it,” Busch said. “He just went to work and did what he was asked to do or told to do.”

Busch saw Tomczak about a year ago when he stopped by to visit with him and the construction crew. Tomczak's father and brother saw him in June. They were the last of his Huron family with that privilege.

"If he was asked the same questions or had the same decisions to make, he would probably make them again," Busch said.

Those who knew Sergeant Tomczak say America couldn't ask for a better soldier.

The last time Tomczak talked to his family was on his birthday, September 11th.

From KLTM