Gregory Rodriguez
Sergeant First Class, United States Army
October 14, 1972 – September 2, 2008
Age – 35
Weidman, MI
Operation Enduring Freedom
K-9 Unit, 527th Military Police Company, 709th Military Police Battalion, 18th Military Police Brigade, Ansbach, Germany
Died of sounds sustained in Ana Kalay, Afghanistan when his mounted patrol came under small arms fire
Army Sergeant 1st Class Gregory A. Rodriquez, was a native of Weidman, Michigan, born, October 14, 1972. “Rod’ graduated from Mount Pleasant High School 19 years later where he was an accomplished wrestler and football player. He always believed in justice, law and order, which he sought to keep both before and after he joined the Army in 1994, and decided to make it a career in 1996.
Although staying tied to his hometown and beloved Red Wings hockey team, the Army took him to many great locations as he became a K-9 specialist in the Military Police. Training these incredible K-9 soldiers was his passion where he excelled at training the most difficult dogs. His most recent partner, Jacko, his closest companion over the last two years, survived the ambush and was to join his family.
He married his wife Laura in 1999 during a tour in Honolulu, HI. They were raising their family of three young boys, Gregory, Jr., Zachary, and Malory.
“I asked Greg if anything ever happened to him where he’d prefer to be buried,” his wife Laura Rodriguez said, “and he told me Arlington, as he wanted to be among the best and the brave.”
Respected by his companions, K-9 and other soldiers, he was known for his ability to “push everyone’s buttons” with his unique brand of sarcasm, while being intensely committed and loyal to his unit.
Gregory A. Rodriguez was a former football player and wrestler who sought to keep order both before joining the Army and while he was in it, said his sister. “My brother liked to be the law,” said Lisa Dombrowski. “He liked justice. If it wasn’t right, he made it right.”
“Rod,” as he was known to his Army buddies, was a Red Wings fan who loved to hassle fans of other hockey teams he met during his military career. “Greg loved to push everyone’s buttons and get people going with his rare, unique sense of sarcasm,” she said. At the same time, her husband, a military police dog handler whose dog, Jacko, survived the fatal ambush, was “a very committed, loyal individual and could be counted on whenever needed.”
