The family of Capt. Mark Garner, who was among seven soldiers killed Monday in Afghanistan, painted a portrait of a man who loved his family, his country and his Army life.
"As difficult as this is to accept," the family said today in its first public statement , "it is made easier by the thought that Mark was happy and content as a soldier. Mark died doing the job he loved, and we will cherish fond memories of him forever."
Garner was a passenger in an M-1151 Humvee with a convoy of U.S. Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal specialists when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device in the Arghandab District in southern Afghanistan.
Garner, 30, was a native of State Road, and a graduate of Elkin High School and the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
He was the commander of Company B, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment, stationed in Hohenfels, Germany. His unit's mission in Afghanistan was to support the U.N. International Security Assistance Force as part of Task Force Zabul, under the operational control of the Romanian Army, his family said.
His body was returned to Dover Air Force Base yesterday during a transfer ceremony attended by the soldiers'families. Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended the ceremony.
Funeral arrangements have not been completed, and a memorial service is being planned at the First Baptist Church in Elkin.
Garner is one of two local service members to die this week in Afghanistan. Lance Cpl. Roger Hager, 20, of Gibsonville died Wednesday in Helmond Province, FOX8/WGHP reported. Hager was riding in a convoy when an improvised explosive device hit his vehicle.
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