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Re: The Iraq Page, RIP soldiers
Richard Henkes 
There is no picture posted of this soldier who died in Iraq on Sunday. RIP Richard.
Quote:
Sgt. 1st Class Richard Henkes always knew he wanted to be a soldier.
Shortly after graduating from Clackamas High School, he joined the U.S. Army in 1992, training for the infantry.
"When Rich enlisted, he was in for a couple of years, and then he got out and was in the National Guard for a while," said his sister, Army Capt. Linda Bass of Birmingham, Ala. Eventually Henkes re-enlisted, in part because he wanted to provide steady support for his family.
"He loved what he was doing, and he was very, very good at what he did," Bass said. "It's what he knew and believed in."
Henkes, 33, died Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded in Mosul, Iraq. He'd been there two months, his sister said. He was assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division stationed at Fort Lewis, Wash.
He leaves behind a 5-year-old daughter, Isabel, in Vancouver and an extended family.
Henkes was the 71st member of the military with ties to Oregon or Southwest Washington to die in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Leading his first platoon, Henkes knew the dangers he and his soldiers were getting into, his sister said. Bass had been stationed in Iraq in 2003, and they talked may times about what could happen over there.
True to form, she said, her little brother tried to reassure her. But in e-mails home, he indicated he sometimes worried about his platoon members. Still, he believed in the mission in Iraq, Bass said.
"He believed in serving his country and doing something that would have a positive effect," she said. "He believed he was doing something for the greater good."
Such beliefs ran in the family. Henkes' father served in the Air Force, and both his grandfathers were in the Army and fought in World War II. A great-grandfather fought in World War I, Bass said.
Henkes grew up in Boring. In high school he wrestled and ran track, but his passion was snowboarding. Last December, he taught his 17-year-old niece, Cassidy Richard, how to ride a snowboard on Mount Hood during a family vacation to celebrate Bass' wedding.
Henkes was "always the jokester" at such gatherings, his sister said.
"But be could also be very quiet," she said. "He was very serious about what he was doing for a living. He was a very caring and compassionate person."
Henkes is survived by his daughter, Isabel; parents, Chris and Jim Stanton of Ashdown, Ark., and Richard and Karen Henkes of Woodburn; sisters, Bass, Tamara Henkes of Portland, Dana Harmel of Woodburn and Cindy Stanton of Hot Springs, Ark.; and brothers, Mark Holmgren of Woodburn and Paul Stanton of Arkadelphia, Ark.
Bass said she will fly to Dover Air Force Base, Del., to accompany her brother's body home as his official military escort.
"It's my honor to do it for him," she said. "His family is very proud of him."
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