A soldier remembered

Military Police Officer Travis Bruce:

Soldier, 22, killed in IraqSpc. Travis Bruce is city's first loss in warAssociated Press
A military police officer from Rochester was killed in Iraq, relatives said Thursday.
Spc. Travis Bruce, 22, was a 2002 graduate of Mayo High School and was serving in Baghdad when he was killed Wednesday morning. He was the first person from Rochester killed in the war, and the 20th Minnesotan to die in the Middle East since the conflict began.
His family learned of his death Thursday morning. They said he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade as he stood on the roof of a building he and his unit were guarding.
Bruce joined the Army right out of high school three years ago. He was with the 42nd Military Police Brigade, based in Fort Lewis, Wash.
This was his second tour of duty in Iraq. He left around Valentine's Day. He had been in the first wave of coalition forces that entered the region in March 2003 and served a one-year tour, mostly in Kuwait, his family said.
"Travis was very proud to be a soldier," Sue Ketchum, his aunt, told the Post-Bulletin newspaper.
An American flag flew outside the Rochester apartment of Vickie Bruce, Travis' mother, and that's where relatives and friends gathered to grieve and share their recollections.
They watched videos of a party thrown for Travis at the Holiday Inn over Christmas.
"It made us laugh and made us cry," Ketchum said.
"Travis was very soft-spoken and mild-mannered," she said. "Before he went in the military he was a young boy. He became a man. He knew himself, knew his capabilities and was really coming to terms with the important role he played."
He came from a family of military police officers. His father, Kenneth Bruce, of Portland, Ore., retired from the Army 25 years ago. His great-uncle and grandfather were also MPs.
Kenneth Bruce told KTTC-TV his son was a very good soldier. He said he spoke with his son's commanders in Iraq and they told him Travis was one of their best.
John Frederickson, principal at Mayo High School, said he knew Travis Bruce well, and that he was a hard worker.
"He was just an average regular kid that worked in school and did what he needed to do," Frederickson told the station. "He had a large group of friends that liked him a lot and vice versa."
The principal said the last time he saw Bruce was at the school in 2003.
"When he spoke at our Veterans Day assembly, his connection with the people that were in his unit, his fellow soldiers, that affection and that commitment to them was profoundly common. He was home on leave but at the same time very determined to get back with them."
Word of Bruce's death was relayed to students over the public-address system a few minutes before school let out Thursday. The news "just knocked the wind out of me," said Steve Mohlke, a teacher who knew him.
Bruce had hoped to return to the United States, next month to begin K-9 training in Texas. He intended to be a police officer or military recruiter after his days of active duty, Ketchum said.
Funeral arrangements were pending. A memorial service was scheduled for Saturday in Iraq and also at Fort Lewis.
A memorial fund has been set up at the Premier Banks in Rochester. Donations can be made to the Travis Bruce Memorial Fund.