Army Staff Sgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III

Died March 24, 2004 serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom

33, of Naples, Fla.; assigned to 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed March 24 when he came under attack by individuals using small arms and an improvised explosive device as he was investigating a suspicious vehicle in Iraq.

Florida soldier killed in Iraq attack

Associated Press

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A 33-year-old soldier from Florida who was serving in Iraq was killed last week in an insurgent attack, the Army said.

Staff Sgt. Wentz Jerome Henry Shanaberger III, of Naples, was investigating a suspicious vehicle Wednesday when he was attacked by a group using small arms and an improvised explosive device, the Army said.

Shanaberger, who was assigned to the 21st Military Police Company, was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C. He leaves behind his wife and five children.

The soldier’s mother, Cheryl Shanaberger, said her son’s primary duties with the Army had always been as a military policeman, but that he also had completed training with the 82nd Airborne and the elite Ranger program.

He was raised in the Tampa area and joined the Army as soon as he graduated from Zephyrhills High School, said his mother, who lives in Port St. Lucie.

Shanaberger did tours in Kuwait during Desert Storm, and in Bosnia, Korea and Panama in his 14 years in the Army.

“He’s been to every hot spot since he joined. He and I would have many, many heated discussions about it,” his mother told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “He was glad that he was able to be over there. That was his job. He thought he was making a difference.”