Tyler Prewitt
| Date and Place of Birth: | August 20, 1982 Gillette, WY |
| Date and Place of Death: | September 28, 2004 Baqubah, Iraq |
| Baseball Experience: | College |
| Position: | Shortstop |
| Rank: | Sergeant |
| Military Unit: | 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division US Army |
| Area Served: | Iraq |
Tyler D. Prewitt was born in Gillette, Wyoming, on August 20, 1982.
He grew up in the Glendale/Phoenix area, attended elementary school at
Northwest Community Christian School and graduated from Greenway High
School in 2001.
He went on to play baseball at Phoenix College. A foul ball had broken
his jaw at the time of the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the
World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. As soon as he was well, he
joined the Army.
Prewitt trained as a field medic and was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd
Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, in Vilseck, Germany. Prewitt
served in Bosnia before seeing duty in Iraq.
On September 24, 2004, in Baqubah, Iraq, Sgt. Prewitt was badly wounded
when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle and exploded.
Surgeons operated on him in Iraq, before was taken to a hospital in
Landstuhl, Germany, where he was pronounced brain dead September 28.
Tyler Prewitt is buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of Arizona
in Phoenix.
"Tyler was the first person I met after joining the Army," recalled
Scott Hanson of Avondale, Arizona. "We sat next to each other for the
trip from the Phoenix MEPS to Fort Knox for basic. I never kept in touch
with him although we both went to Germany and Iraq at the same time. I
remember him as bright and full of life. He was so excited about joining
and training to be a medic. I've never forgotten about him or the day I
read of his passing. I'll always remember him as the embodiment of a
great soldier and a welcoming friend."
"I think about Tyler all of the time," said his high school baseball
coach, Ryan Holtorf. "He was such a great young man that had an impact
on my life as a coach . . .TP is still on the side of every Greenway
Baseball players hat . . . His story is told to every basball player
that walks on the field at Greenway. Tyler's memory lives on through
each and every kid that puts on that unifom."
Tyler Prewitt wass survived by his father, Tim; his mother, Johnnie; and
brothers Chad and Richie.
Chad played basketball at Arizona State and went on to play
professionally for the Dakota Wizards of the Continental Basketball
Association and then with various teams in Germany and Greece. He most
recently played for the MIA Academy in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Sources:
Arizona Republic, September 30, 2004
www.fallenheroesmemorial.com/oif/profiles/prewitttylerd.html
www.findagrave.com
www.militarytimes.com/valor/soldier/381993/
Date Added March 3, 2013
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