LeRoy Alexander enlisted in the Army in August 1997, following in the steps of his father who served as a Marine in the Vietnam War.
Alexander was born in North Carolina, but grew up in Dale City, Virginia, where he attended C.D. Hylton High School and met his future wife, Marissa. He graduated from high school in 1997 and enlisted in the Army.
Alexander began One Station Unit Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, before transferring to Fort Benning, Georgia, for Airborne school. After training, he was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. With goals of working in the Special Forces, he attended Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course and the Special Forces Qualification Course. In June 2004, Alexander became a Special Forces engineer and was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg. From there, he served in Kosovo and Haiti, and reached his highest rank of staff sergeant.
In Alexander’s final deployment in Afghanistan, he was based at the Forward Operating Base Orgun-E. On June 3, 2005, an IED killed him and Capt. Charles D. Robinson, who was also in the vehicle.
Alexander was 27 and was near the end of his deployment to return home to his wife, who was pregnant with twins. He was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star Medal, a Meritorious Service Medal and an Afghanistan Campaign Medal.
We honor his service.
Nominate a Veteran for #VeteranOfTheDay
Do you want to light up the face of a special Veteran? Have you been wondering how to tell your Veteran they are special to you? You’re in luck! VA’s #VeteranOfTheDay social media feature is an opportunity to highlight your Veteran and his/her service.
It’s easy to nominate a Veteran. All it takes is an email to newmedia@va.gov with as much information as you can put together, along with some good photos. Visit our blog post about nominating to learn how to create the best submission.
Writer: Sarah McDonald
Editors: Ashley Shaut, Cate Manning
Researcher: Christopher Rosenquist
Graphic Designer: Saul Leon
Topics in this story
Link Disclaimer
This page includes links to other websites outside our control and jurisdiction. VA is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of non-VA Web sites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy or terms and conditions of those sites to fully understand what information is collected and how it is used.
Statement of Endorsement
Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.
More Stories
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Coast Guard Veteran Alan Spielman, who served in Alaska.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Air Force Veteran Jan Klebukowski, who served in the United States, United Kingdom and South Korea.
This week’s Honoring Veterans Spotlight honors the service of Navy Veteran James McDonald, who served as a Chief Metalsmith during his service.
Great Job!
So many went, like I did. At the end of the day. Our Sacrifice was for the Enrichment of a Military Industrial Complex. Why EXACTLY was LeRoy in a foreign country that is not a Threat to the National security of the United States of America? So let us STOP glorifying the Destruction of Poor countries by sending the Poor of this country. Too Bad LeRoy died for “NO” moral cause and no Higher one. LeRoy should be at Home raising his Babies and loving his Wife1
We honor the service of LeRoy Alexander.
Why “EXACTLY” was LeRoy in a Foreign country that is thousands of miles from his Wife and babies? Did anyone not named Industrial Complex get ANYTHING from LeRoy’s Deployment?
God blessed us with the greatest people in are United States America. May the survivor have the never ending happiness from their souls and there freinds and their family lives are not alone.
Thank you for sharing.