Spc. Aaron Michael Genevie was determined to follow the path of his two grandfathers into the U.S. Army. But that path proved to be challenging.
Genevie had to fight a note in his medical file stating that he had asthma and a shoulder injury sustained while playing sports during his school days.
"He had to go through all this red tape to get there, but he never gave up on it," his mother, Patricia Genevie, told the Washington Post.
Genevie, 22, Chambersburg, Penn., was killed April 16, 2007, when the vehicle he was aboard was struck by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Fort Riley.
Genevie was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Washington D.C.
"I figured he was my hero and that is where heroes go," Patricia Genevie said.
"I think he would be very proud to be there ... he was fulfilling a childhood dream. He believed in America and what it stands for."
At his burial service, Army Chaplain Lt. Col. James D. Gray referred to Genevie as "a brother, a friend, a fellow citizen, a patriot."
Genevie graduated from McConnellsburg High School in 2003 and worked briefly at TB Wood's, an electronic motor controls manufacturing company in Chambersburg. He enlisted in the Army in July of 2005 and was assigned to 5th Squadron, 15th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armor Training Brigade, Fort Knox, Ky.
"He was always just, like the life of everything," said Pfc. Zachary F. Clark, who served with Genevie at both Fort Knox and Fort Riley. "I don't think I ever saw him without a smile on his face."
