Army Sgt. Alexander Van Aalten, 21, of Monterey,
Tenn.
Sgt. Van Aalten was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute
Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division,
Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 20 in Sangin, Afghanistan, of wounds
sustained when a land mine detonated near his unit during combat
operations.
A former Monterey resident was killed during a second tour in
Afghanistan after he stepped on a mine, according to his family.
The family of Sgt. Alex Van Aalten, 21, with the 82nd Airborne
Division, was notified Friday of the incident in the Kandahar Region
of Afghanistan where he was stationed.
Van Aalten's mother, Susan, said the family was at work when they
learned what happened.
She said her son had been in Afghanistan since January and was
scheduled to be there for 15 months. She wasn't able to give many
details about what he was doing, but she said she believes he was
involved in a large ongoing offensive operation.
Van Aalten also served in Iraq in 2005 as a gunner on a Humvee, his
mother said.
Van Aalten, who attended Cookeville High School, was born in
Orlando, Fla., but spent much of his life in Monterey, about 75
miles west of Knoxville.
His mother and father, Ed Van Aalten, live in Cumberland Cove, and
his wife, Shana, lives in Sparta. He and his wife had been married
for about two years, his mother said.
Van Aalten's mother said he signed up for the Army after graduating
from high school and went to basic training at Fort Benning in
Georgia. He then was assigned to the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg in
North Carolina.
June would have marked his third year in the Army, and two weeks
ago, Van Aalten signed up to serve for another six years, his mother
said.
"He loved serving his country," she said. "He just was a really good
person. He loved being in the Army. He believed in what he was
doing."
Army Sgt. Alexander Van Aalten was killed in action on 4/20/07
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BRIDGE DEDICATED
MONTEREY -- The
Interstate 40 Bridge in Monterey was dedicated to the late Sgt. Alex
van Aalten in a ceremony on Friday at the VFW Hall in Monterey.
Sgt. van Aalten, 21, died April 20, 2007, from wounds suffered
during a rescue mission of Dutch troops in Sangin, Afghanistan. He
was serving with the 82nd Airborne, 1-508 Parachute Infantry
Regiment, Delta Company at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Sgt. van Aalten, a Monterey resident, was a 2004 graduate of
Cookeville High School, where he served as the Brigade Commander for
the Reserve Officer Training Corps. He joined the. U.S. Army in June
2004 and served as a gunner on a Humvee in Iraq in 2005. He had been in Afghanistan since January 2007.
Sgt. van Aalten was awarded a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart, and
was posthumously awarded the Netherlands' Gold Medal of Merit of the
Minister of Defense.
"Sergeant van Aalten gave his life to save others and to preserve
freedom both overseas and here at home," State Senator Charlotte
Burks said. "He is truly a hero."
As a result of Senate Joint Resolution 335, which Sen. Burks
sponsored, the bridge on Interstate 40, that spans U.S. Highway 70N
between Exit 300 and Exit 301 at Monterey, has been designated the
"Sgt. Alex van Aalten Memorial Bridge."
The dedication ceremony included members of the van Aalten family,
Sen. Burks, Rep. Henry Fincher of Cookeville and Cmdr. Skip
Pennington.
(Herald-Citizen, Cookeville, TN, 17 Oct 2010)
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