Today we honor Sgt. Roberto Sanchez, a team leader in 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, who was killed in action on October 1, 2009, in Afghanistan. He was 24.
He enlisted in the Army in 2004 with the clear goal of becoming a Ranger. He completed infantry training and airborne school at Fort Benning, earned his way through the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP), and joined 1st Ranger Battalion in 2005, where he served as an automatic rifleman and then as a team leader.
He was mortally wounded by an IED during a combat operation in which his unit engaged multiple enemy contacts, killed nine fighters, and destroyed a large weapons cache. It was his fifth combat deployment.
His battalion commander called him the quintessential Ranger: enthusiastic, smart, and loyal to his mission, his country, and his friends.
"Rangers Lead the Way"
Never forgotten.