WEST VALLEY CITY — An Army staff sergeant and father described as a young man full of dreams was killed Monday during a gunbattle in Afghanistan.
Larry Ismael Rougle, 25, of West Valley City, was on his third tour in Afghanistan when he was killed Monday afternoon in the Sawtalo Sar Mountain area of the Kunar Province. He was fatally wounded by small-arms fire during a combat operation, the Department of Defense said.
"My Larry was always pretty happy. He smiled; he was just the greatest," said the soldier's mother, Nancy Rougle.
When the news of his death came Tuesday, she said, "it felt like my life ended, like part of me died."
His former wife, Jackie Rougle, said he was a decorated soldier. The couple had a daughter, Carmin, now 3, before they divorced.
"I couldn't ask for a better dad for my little girl," she said Wednesday while at the home of Larry Rougle's parents.
Larry Rougle graduated early from Granite High School at 17. When he joined the Army shortly out of high school, his father had to sign on his young son's behalf. Growing up "adventurous," Larry Rougle loved dressing up in his father's Army uniform, his mother said.
Rougle served in the U.S. Army for seven years, deploying to Iraq for the first time in 2001 on a six-month tour. He served another eight months in Iraq in 2002-03. He was on his third tour in Afghanistan when he was killed.
In March, he had planned to return for a midtour leave for his father's birthday, his brother's wedding and to take his daughter to Disneyland. The girl was "the love of his life," said Rougle's aunt, Char Rodriguez of Kearns.
Rougle was a member of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, stationed in Italy with 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airborne Infantry Regiment. He was described by his aunt as "overly" intelligent and a politics junkie who loved to read the stock market quotes and newspaper even as a child.
"He was a very proud soldier and loved what he did," Rodriguez said. "His main purpose in serving was to do what he thought was right for the poor people of a war-torn country. He was a young man full of dreams that have now come to a stop."
Those dreams took their inspiration from the actions of Rougle's father, Ismael Rougle, who served in the Army. His father said his son had plans of going to college after the military.
A press release issued Wednesday afternoon by the U.S. Army said Monday's death happened while Rougle's unit was conducting combat operations in support of Operation Rock Avalanche in the Kunar Province. The unit received small-arms fire from a five- to 10-man enemy "element."
"He knew what he was doing was right, protecting his country," said his mother.
Funeral arrangements are pending the arrival of Rougle's body back in the United States.
Rougle is at least the 450th U.S. military fatality in Afghanistan since 2001 and the 709th coalition fatality in that country during the same time period, according to the Web site, www.icasualties.org.
He is the 46th person, military or civilian, with Utah ties to die while serving or working during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, according to Deseret Morning News figures.
He also is survived by a brother, David, 22.
E-mail: sspeckman@desnews.com