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Son of local man dies in Iraq

Capt. Torre Mallard, son of local JROTC instructor, is killed by an IED in Iraq.

Date published: 3/14/2008

By CATHY DYSON

The son of a well-respected military instructor in Spotsylvania County was killed in Iraq this week.

Yet, few of retired Master Sgt. Mose Mallard’s co-workers knew of his son’s accomplishments, said Lee Browning, principal of the Spotsylvania Career and Technical Center.

Mallard has taught the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the center since 2006.

“He could have bragged about his son, but he was never the type to do that,” Browning said of Mallard. “He’s kind of a quiet man and he’s highly regarded and respected.”

Mallard left his Stafford County home this week for Fort Hood, Texas. His older son, Capt. Torre Mallard, was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood.

The 27-year-old captain and two other soldiers from the unit were killed Monday by an improvised explosive device in Balad Ruz, Iraq.

Balad Ruz is a small village in the Diyala province northeast of Baghdad. Since last summer, it’s been one of the deadliest places in Iraq for U.S. troops, according to PBS.org.

Mallard was proud his son had followed him into the military, said Sgt. Ed Fulmore, a fellow JROTC instructor at the center.

Mallard, who could not be reached for comment, served in the Gulf War, Fulmore said.

Torre Mallard was on his second tour of duty in Iraq, Fulmore said. In 2004, as a first lieutenant, he was photographed while searching for insurgents in Baghdad.

Just last month, the Army officer was quoted in a Multi-National Corps press release.

He and other soldiers were working with informants when an al–Qaida cell fired on them with rocket-propelled grenades.

No Americans were hurt, but six armed insurgents were killed, including the cell’s leader, who organized kidnappings and the placement of explosive devices.

“The people in this area will definitely be a lot safer now,” Torre Mallard said.

The Army officer graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2002. At his commissioning ceremony, he received his first salute from his father, according to the Anniston (Ala.) Star.

Torre Mallard’s parents, Robin and Mose Mallard III, and his grandparents, Flora and Mose Mallard Jr., lived in Anniston at the time.

Despite the rigors of West Point, Torre Mallard played football for the Army and completed Airborne School at Fort Bragg. In July 2002, he served as company commander, the highest position in the cadet chain of command, according to the Anniston paper.

A memorial service is planned Wednesday in Anniston, with a funeral Friday at West Point.

A lot of Mose Mallard’s fellow teachers have asked the principal of the Spotsylvania center how they can help. Torre Mallard is survived by a wife and two young sons, Torre Jr. and Joshua.

The family asked that expressions of sympathy be made in the name of the children, in care of Mose and Robin Mallard, and sent to: Spotsylvania Career and Technical Center, 6713 Smith Station Road, Spotsylvania, Va. 22553.

Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
cdyson@freelancestar.com

At least 22 men and one woman with ties to the Fredericksburg area have died in Iraq or Afghanistan since the war on terror began: Army Capt. Torre Mallard, 27. whose father teaches JROTC at Spotsylvania Career and Technical Center, was killed March 10, 2008, in Balad Ruz, Iraq, by an improvised explosive device. Army 1st Lt. Benjamin Hall, 24, whose family lives in Fredericksburg, was killed July 31, 2007, leading his infantry platoon in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan. Army Sgt. Dustin Perrott , 23, of Spotsylvania County, was killed June 21, 2007, when a bomb exploded near his vehicle in Miri, Afghanistan. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Stanley, 27, a native of Spotsylvania County, was killed March 5, 2007, when his unit tripped an IED in Samarra, Iraq. Marine Sgt. Joshua Frazier, 24, of Spotsylvania County was killed Feb. 6, 2007, by a sniper in Ramadi, Iraq. Army National Guard Col. Paul M. Kelly, 45, of Stafford County was killed Jan. 20, 2007, when his helicopter was shot down near Baghdad. Army Cpl. Adam Fargo, 22, a medic with relatives in Fredericksburg, was killed July 22, 2006, by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. Marine Cpl. Brett Lee Lundstrom, a 2001 Brooke Point High School graduate, was killed Jan. 7, 2006, by small-arms fire near Fallujah, Iraq. Army National Guard Spc. Jeremy Hodge, 20, whose mother lives in Fredericksburg, was killed Oct. 10, 2005, when the convoy he was leading was hit by a bomb near Baghdad. Army Master Sgt. Michael Russell, 31, originally of North Stafford, was killed June 28, 2005, in Afghanistan with 15 other service members when their helicopter was shot down by insurgents. Marine Cpl. Christopher Weaver, 24, of Spotsylvania was one of four Marine reservists killed in a Jan. 26, 2005, convoy ambush near Haditha, Iraq. Army Sgt. Nicholas “Nick” Mason, 20, a National Guardsman from King George, was one of 22 people killed in a Dec. 21, 2004, mess-tent suicide bombing near Mosul, Iraq. Army Sgt. David Ruhren, 20, a National Guardsman from Stafford County, also was killed in the mess-tent suicide bombing. Army Sgt. Jack Bryant Jr. of Dale City was killed in Muqdadiyah, Iraq, on Nov. 20, 2004, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his military convoy. Civilian medic Jeffery Serrett, a 43-year-old Caroline native who lived in Spotsylvania, was shot and killed by an unidentified assailant Nov. 2, 2004, at Abu Ghraib prison between Baghdad and Fallujah. He was working for Halliburton. Marine Lance Cpl. Caleb Powers, 21, a former Fredericksburg-area resident, was killed by a sniper Aug. 17, 2004, in Ramadi, Iraq. Army 2nd Lt. Leonard Cowherd III, 22, of Culpeper was killed by a sniper May 16, 2004, while on a mission near Karbala, Iraq. Army Spc. Frank K. Rivers Jr., 23, of Woodbridge suffered heart failure during physical training April 14, 2004, in Mosul, Iraq. Army 2nd Lt. Jeff Graham, 24, a 1998 graduate of Brooke Point High School, was killed Feb. 19, 2004, about 50 miles west of Baghdad after a bomb exploded while he led his platoon on foot patrol. Army Staff Sgt. Thomas D. Robbins, 27, a scout, was killed Feb. 9, 2004, near Mosul, Iraq, when confiscated Iraqi ammunition exploded while he and others were moving it. Robbins grew up in New York, but has relatives in the Fredericksburg area. Army Regimental Sgt. Maj. Cornell W. Gilmore, 45, of North Stafford was killed Nov. 7, 2003, in a helicopter shot down over Tikrit, Iraq. He worked for the Judge Advocate General Corps at the Pentagon and was on a brief mission in Iraq. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Sharon T. Swartworth, 43, of Alexandria, who spent weekends at a summer home at Lake Anna in Orange County, also worked for JAG and died with Gilmore. Army Staff Sgt. David Parson, 30, was shot seven times July 6, 2003, as his vehicle approached Baghdad. The father of three had married into the Belman family of Stafford.

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Date published: 3/14/2008