Nicholas H. Blodgett

Private First Class, United States Army

September 15, 1982 – July 21, 2004
Age – 21
Wyoming, MI

Operation Iraqi Freedom
1^st Squadron, 4^th Cavalry Regiment, Schwemfurt, Germany

Killed when his patrol vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Abdalluyah Iraq.

When the deli where Nicholas Blodgett worked went out of business, he looked for a job in security. He found they wanted people with military experience. He’d always wanted to either be in the military or a police department, so he joined the Army. Six other soldiers were injured in the blast.

Blodgett was a quiet leader at his high school, playing in the school band and taking taekwondo lessons with his parents Rita and Robert Blodgett Jr. and his brother, Matthew, 20. His principal remembers that he returned the year after graduation to help out with the color guard because he wanted to find a way to stay involved. Blodgett, who was stationed in Schweinfurt, Germany, had been home for a visit in November and was excited about going overseas. His family had been looking forward to another visit in August.