Travis M. Arndt loved to drive in the mountains in his Jeep. He loved long, hot afternoons diving off the rocks on the Missouri River. He loved hiking and snowshoeing in the Rocky Mountain Front.
"He was a really good kid," said Tina Price, mother of one of Travis' best friend. "He was a happy-go-lucky, smiling-all-the-time kid, a really fun guy to be around."
Arndt, 23, of Bozeman, Mont., was killed Sept. 21 in a vehicle accident in Kirkuk. He was assigned to Missoula.
A 2001 high school graduate, he had been taking classes at Montana State University. He wanted to become a football coach or a police officer.
"Travis had a contagious laugh," said his father, Mark Arndt. "He could change the mood in a room from somber to joyous. My son was somebody everybody admired."
Arndt was an amateur boxer and he lifted weights, especially the parallel squat and power clean. He had planned to come home on leave in October to surprise his girlfriend, Lindsay Logan, on her birthday.
"I honestly believe he planned to ask her to marry him," said his stepbrother, Steve Salazar. |