On September 8th, 2006, Sergeant First-class Merideth Howard died when a car bomber slammed into a Humvee carrying 15 people. Howard, 52, died that Friday while on patrol in Kabul. She is the oldest female soldier killed in action since fighting started in Afghanistan in 2001.

Family and friends of this Waukesha soldier had this to say about Sgt. 1st Class Merideth Howard’s dedication.

Howard’s husband, Hugh Hvolboll, said he and his wife enjoyed traveling the world together to places such as Mexico, Spain and Hawaii. He says she joined the Army Reserves in 1988 and went to Afghanistan in April. She was a member of the 364th Civil Affairs Brigade in support of the Tenth Mountain Division.

Her cousin, Susan Utley, says Howard didn’t expect her unit to be called up. According to the cousin, Howard thought it was a bad idea for her unit to go and she turned out to be right.

Howard worked as a firefighter before she began a career as a fire-safety consultant out of their Waukesha home.

Her husband remembers that she had gorgeous blue eyes. He says meeting her was like meeting his soul mate, and that it felt like they’d known each other forever.

Merideth Howard, as an American citizen I am sincerely and forever grateful for your courage and your sacrifice. I want to thank your family for all they have given for the cause of freedom. I will remember you, and I will teach my children to remember you. We are forever in your debt.

Information Sources:
The Milwaukee Channel
Channel NBC 15

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 13th, 2007 at 5:04 am and is filed under Misc. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.