My little brother has been a fulltime recruiter in the US Army for 7 years, serving as a Station Commander in Texas City and League City, Texas for the last 3 years.

Since becoming a recruiter, my little brother has helped hundreds of young men and women achieve their dream of serving in the US Army. And of all those Soldiers that my brother put into the Army, not one of them had been killed in combat — until earlier this week.

My brother called me on Thursday to let me know that PFC Nathaniel “Nathan” Given (21) was killed in action in Iraq on Wednesday, December 27. I could tell that my brother was having a difficult time with the loss of this young Soldier. PFC Given was put into the Army at my little brothers recruiting station (the recruiter who wrote the contract on Given, Sgt. Gilliam, is now a sniper deployed to Iraq) as an 11B — which is Infantry. He was killed while on a footpatrol in Iraq (his family believes it was by an IED).

This is the announcement from his hometown newspaper, The Galveston County Daily News:

DICKINSON — A 21-year-old soldier from Dickinson was killed Wednesday in Iraq. Nathaniel Given, a soldier with the Army’s 10th Mountain Infantry, is the fifth Galveston County resident to be killed in the Iraq war.

The Army had not yet released information on how Given was killed. Given’s family declined comment on the soldier’s death.

My brother told me that the family asked about having the Patriot Guard Riders participate in the services for their son, so this mission will have special importance for me, as I’m sure my brother will also be attending.

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UPDATE — January 8, 2007 — PFC Nathan Given Laid to Rest in Texas