| From Pittsburgh Post-Gazette post-gazette.com
04/10/08:
Soldier from Plum killed in Iraq
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A Plum man serving with the American military in Iraq was one of two soldiers killed in a rocket attack in Baghdad Monday.
Army Spc. Jason C. Kazarick, 30, died when insurgents in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City opened fire with a rocket propelled grenade. Another soldier in Spc. Kazarick's unit, Sgt. Michael T. Lilly, 23, of Boise, Idaho, also was killed.
The men were assigned to the 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment based in Vilseck, Germany.
Mr. Kazarick was a 1995 graduate of Plum High School, after beginning his school career in neighboring Penn Hills.
He is survived by his mother, Susan M. Dubaich, as well as a brother, Taylor Dubaich, and sister, Marissa Dubaich, all at home. |
| From Pittsburgh Tribune-Review pittsburghlive.com
04/10/08:
Oakmont soldier's kindness touched others
By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Friends of a soldier from Oakmont who was killed in Iraq remembered him Wednesday as a kind and gentle person who was proud to serve his country.
Army Cpl. Jason C. Kazarick, 30, and another soldier died Monday in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Sadr City, the U.S. Department of Defense announced. Kazarick was deployed to Iraq on Aug. 15, 2007.
"He was very excited the day he told me he had joined the military," said Cheryl Pierce, who owns the apartment building on Virginia Avenue where Kazarick lived at the time he enlisted in the Army in October 2005.
"He was working in an auto dealership, and I believe they liked him a lot, but he really felt like he wanted to do something more with his life. I think he saw serving in the military as a way to do that," said Pierce, 61, of Wilkinsburg, a psychologist in private practice.
Pierce described Kazarick, a 1995 graduate of Plum High School, as an outgoing and gracious man who "put up with quite a lot" while living in her apartment building because it was being renovated. But rather than complain, Kazarick earned extra money by helping with demolition, construction and landscaping.
A neighbor in the apartment house said that after the remodeling work was completed, Kazarick continued to help out by cutting grass on the property and planting and caring for the trees, shrubs and flowers.
"One day he knocked on my door and was excited that the roses he had planted were blooming," said Norma Jean Leslie, 69, who lived in the apartment above Kazarick.
"He handed me two roses and said they were the first ones that he picked. That little gesture really touched my heart. I kept those roses for the longest time," she said.
Leslie said Kazarick was always quick to drop what he was doing to help carry groceries or trash bags for the residents in the apartment house.
"He was a very kind and respectful guy," Leslie said. "He really left an impression on me. It truly breaks my heart to know that he is gone."
Plum school officials, neighbors and family members along the Plum street where Kazarick's mother, Susan M. Dubaich, lives declined comment on his death.
Kazarick also is survived by a brother, Taylor Dubaich, a sister, Marissa Dubaich, and his fiance, Susanne Hutzelmeier.
Kazarick was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart.
Also killed in Monday's attack was Sgt. Michael Lilly of Boise, Idaho.
The two soldiers were assigned to the Army's 1st Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, based in Vilseck, Germany. |
