Anthony O. Cardinal
Corporal, United States Army
February 23, 1985 – December 25, 2005
Age – 20
Muskegon, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Fort Stewart, GA
Killed when a bomb detonated near his vehicle.
An Army specialist who grew up in Michigan has been killed in Iraq, less than two weeks before he was due home. Tony Cardinal had spent nearly a year in Iraq and was to spend the rest of his two-year enlistment in Georgia.
He graduated from Oakridge High School in 2003 and enlisted in the U.S. Army a short time later. Tony was assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia. Tony was known for his sense of humor and the ability to play practical jokes. He was very good at making people laugh. He enjoyed photography, drawing and playing basketball.
Tony Cardinal joined the Army shortly before the arrival of the couple’s first baby because jobs were scarce in the Muskegon area, his wife said. He was in Iraq when the couple’s daughter was born in October. “They brought a satellite phone to him so he could call me,” Amber Cardinal said, adding that her husband got to see the baby by Web cam, though never in person. She said her husband had told her recently that his anxiety was growing, as his Jan. 5 homecoming neared. He said that he was more afraid of dying now than ever, because he was so close to coming home.
Amber Cardinal said her husband came to love the military and wanted to make a career out of it. “He was really dedicated to his job,” she said. “He said they were getting things done over there.”