Posted on: Saturday, April 9, 2005
Slain soldier extended Iraq duty
By Mike Gordon
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Pentagon yesterday identified Cpl. Glenn J. Watkins, 42, as the Washington National Guardsman who was killed this week in Iraq while serving extended deployment as part of the Hawai'i National Guard's 29th Brigade Combat Team.
Four other soldiers were injured by the blast, but the Pentagon has not discussed their injuries. A spokesman with the Hawai'i National Guard said none of the approximately 3,700 regular soldiers from the Hawai'i Guard has been killed or wounded during their deployment.
Watkins belonged to Washington's 1st Battalion, 161st Infantry. Although most of his fellow Washington guard members returned home in March and this month, Watkins had decided to stay an extra six months.
Before he was mobilized in November 2003, Watkins worked as a construction worker and carpenter, according to the Washington guard office at Camp Murray in Tacoma.
Watkins first joined the military in 1981 and served four years in the Navy, the guard said. After that he spent time with the U.S. Navy Reserve, then joined the Army full-time for three years.
When he left the Army, Watkins joined the Washington Army National Guard before moving south and joining the California Army National Guard. He eventually returned to Washington.
Watkins was born in Idaho Falls, Idaho.
He has a son serving in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Reach Mike Gordon at 525-8012 or mgordon@honoluluadvertiser.com.
Watkins, a husband and father of four from Tacoma, died Tuesday when a bomb placed on a nearby vehicle blew up beside the Humvee he was riding in, the Pentagon said. Watkins, who was on a patrol in south Baghdad, was manning the rooftop machine gun when the bomb went off.
Glenn J. Watkins
