Army Ranger, Sergeant First Class Lance Vogeler was a soldier, husband, and father expecting his third child. He was killed in action last week. Army officials say 29-year-old Sgt. 1st Class Lance Herman Vogeler was killed Friday in a heavy fire fight during combat operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Hunter Army Airfield in Georgia.
Vogeler was on his 12th deployment after seven previous deployments to Afghanistan and four deployments to Iraq.
He was known for the respect he received from other soldiers, his Christian faith, and his devotion to family, his friends and colleagues. His parents Tim and Donna Vogeler, are both deaf. Lance and his brother Chris, served their parents as interpreters. He also obtained a certificate to perform marriage ceremonies for fellow soldiers, after many of his men asked that he officiate at their weddings.
Lance enlisted in the U.S. Army in May 2001. He graduated from the Ranger training program later that year. Vogeler was a career soldier who once turned down an opportunity to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, choosing to stay with his men. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart, the Bronze Star Medal and the Meritorious Service Medal.
On the ninth anniversary of the start of the U.S. war in Afghanistan, the remains of the 29-year-old Army ranger received a hero’s welcome today at Hunter Air Force Base near Savannah, Georgia
He is survived by his pregnant wife, Melissa, and two children.
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