Maryland's Seventy-Sixth Hero

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The Department of Defense announced the death of Army Spc. Ari D. Brown-Weeks, 23, of Abingdon, Md. who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. He died Sept. 10 in Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered from a non-combat related vehicle rollover. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.


HE WAS A FAITHFUL FRIEND WHO EXCELLED ACADEMICALLY AND ATHLETICALLY

Spc. Ari Brown-Weeks, 23, a military radio operator from Abingdon, Md., was killed in the Sept. 10 accident in western Baghdad. The seven soldiers were members of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 2nd Brigade, based at Fort Bragg, N.C..

He joined the 82nd Airborne Division in December and was deployed to Iraq in the first wave of the surge of troops into the country in January, a month after getting married. His father, Jon Weeks of Leyden, Mass., said he was scheduled to return home in November.

Brown-Weeks was the only child of Weeks and Karyn Brown. His parents told The Republican in Springfield, Mass., that their son was good at sports and academics and liked to write poetry.

“He loved his family above all and was loyal to the end with his friends. He loved being around people and always needed to be where the action was,” Weeks said.

His decision to enlist was influenced by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, his father said.

“He believed they were fighting terrorists there so they won’t come here,” Weeks told The Recorder in Greenfield, Mass. “He did believe that. But he also could see firsthand that a lot of what was going on wasn’t working.”

“Specialist Brown-Weeks, was a true American hero,” said Capt. Patrick Koucheravy, a spokesman with the 82nd Airborne Division, in Fort Bragg, N.C. “He will be sorely missed by everyone who had the honor to serve with him.”