Private First Class Aaron Winship Howard, A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Aaron Winship Howard, A Soldier's Story
Private First Class Aaron Winship Howard was born on January 9, 1971, in Watertown, New York, and grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Howard attended Lakeview High School in Battle Creek. While still in school, he worked part-time at Sears Automotive. He graduated in May 1989 and, only a few months later, enlisted in the United States Army on August 8, 1989.
Trained as a combat engineer, Howard was eventually assigned to Company C, 82nd Engineer Battalion, based at Fort Riley, Kansas. He first served in Germany before deploying to Southwest Asia during the buildup for the Persian Gulf War.
By early 1991, Howard and his fellow engineers were participating in Operation Desert Storm. Combat engineers had an especially dangerous responsibility during the ground campaign: clearing mines and obstacles so American armored units could keep advancing.
On February 26, 1991, Howard was serving in Iraq as his unit worked to clear mines for advancing American forces. During the operation, the M113 armored personnel carrier he was traveling in was struck. Howard was killed at the age of just 20. Gulf War casualty records list his death as occurring in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. Early information provided by the Army attributed several deaths to enemy action or mines. Investigations later determined that Howard and others killed in the February 26 incident had been struck by American fire.
Private First Class Aaron Winship Howard died only twenty months after graduating from high school and was laid to rest at Pulaski Village Cemetery in Pulaski, New York. He was twenty years old.
He is remembered among Michigan's fallen service members of the Persian Gulf War, and his name remains among the Americans who gave their lives during Operation Desert Storm.
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About the Author
a.d. elliott is a wanderer, photographer, and storyteller traveling through life
She shares her journeys at Take the Back Roads, explores new reads at Rite of Fancy, and highlights U.S. military biographies at Everyday Patriot.
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