"We were going along normally and (the bomb) destroyed my door," explained Lt. Matt Homa. "It almost killed me. From what I've been told, ( Roger ) helped keep me awake until my medic arrived." Homa described Ling as "a good kid ... you could count on him to do anything." The 20-year-old from New York City was one of two soldiers killed Feb. 19, 2004, by hostile fire in Khaldiyah, Iraq. He was stationed at Fort Riley.
Leona Ling said she was grateful her brother came home in August just before leaving for Iraq. "He had to have his tonsils taken out," she said. "It was a blessing in disguise because we got to see him again."
In phone calls home the soldier spoke wistfully of returning to New York and going to college. "He wanted to hear about what was going on at home and all the latest family gossip," Leona Ling recalled.
At funeral services in Arlington National Cemetery, his father, Wai Ling , a U.S. Army veteran, was presented with a Bronze Star, which is awarded for meritorious or heroic action against an armed enemy force.
