Sgt. David J. Drakulich, 22, was a forward observer, rifleman and parachutist with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
“He was a Nevadan and an American,” his father, Joseph, said tonight at the family’s home in Stead. “His death and sacrifice will not go in vain. It has a purpose.”
“He was my dearest friend and my son,” the
father said, “and a great snowboarder.”
Drakulich had been deployed twice before to Afghanistan with the
3rd Ranger Battalion from Fort Benning, Ga.
“His death was very sudden, he probably didn’t know what hit him,” the father said amid a gathering of at least 20 family members and friends at the home. Drakulich enlisted in 2004 as part to join America’s fight against terrorists.
“Four years ago, he said, ‘Dad, I’m going to be an airborne ranger,’” the father recalled. “I was floored by that.”
“He was fearless. He knew what he was doing”
Recently, the sergeant was credited with saving his unit by calling in an air strike from his position as a forward observer.
“He loved his country, and joined in order to serve,” said his mother, Tina. “We loved him very much.”
Part of an extended Nevada family of lawyers, teachers and real estate agents, Drakulich died as a Specialist 4th Class and promoted to sergeant posthumously.
“He went straight to heaven,” sister, Dana, said. “I know that.
He is also survived by a brother, Thomas, and sister Dana.
He attended Silver Lake Elementary School and O’Brien Middle School and was a 2003 graduate of Hug High School. He attended Truckee Meadows Community College for two semesters before enlisting in the Army.
Drakulich had planned to attend college when
he returned from Afghanistan in April.
Funeral services are pending.
Joe Morgan, a neighbor, recalled seeing Drakulich running a few years ago in the North Valleys hills “all of the time” while training as a cross county runner.
“This is a real shocker,” Morgan said Thursday night. “You have to feel really bad for the family.”
To honor Drakulich, flags at the Nevada State Capitol will be flown at half-staff today, Gov. Jim Gibbons said.
“Dawn and I are deeply saddened by the news of Sgt. Drakulich’s death,” the governor said in a statement Thursday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the Drakulich family as they mourn the loss of one of our nation’s true heroes.”
“We have lost one of Nevada’s finest and will remember him for his honorable service to our country and for the many sacrifices he made in the name of democracy so that we may live in a safer world,” the governor said. “I extend my deepest sympathy to those mourning the loss of this exceptional young man.”
Drakulich is the 18th soldier from Northern Nevada and at least the 51st soldier with Nevada links to have died in Afghanistan, Iraq or other parts of the Middle East since Sept. 11, 2001.
