John F “Hans” Kurth

Army Capt. Kurth was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, based in Schweinfurt, Germany. Kurth was killed when his patrol was hit by an improvised explosive device in Tikrit. Kurth graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with the class of 1995. He was a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, serving in Kosovo twice, but this was his first duty in Iraq, and his unit has been there less than a month. Kurth had been stationed in Germany for three years and commanded an infantry company.

"Since he was a young man, he always lived his life surrounded with discipline," said Travis DeBussey, a friend from their days together at Columbus High School. "He just loved the Army. He wouldn't regret one second of it."

"He just said they were going to be heading into Iraq and monitoring a section of the highway in the Tikrit area," Retta Kurth said. John and Retta Kurth had last seen their son at Christmas. "Hans was looking forward to going over there and hopefully making (the situation in Iraq) better," John Kurth said. He said his son was "definitely well liked. He got along with everyone."

"He was a real dedicated student," Retta Kurth said, "committing himself to whatever he set as his goals. Those goals were often lofty."

Kurth was a standout athlete in high school, and as a senior played on Columbus 1990 state championship football team. Kurth was also a wrestler, and DeBussey recalled how his friend would go around smelling other peoples  food, but not eat anything when he was trying to make weight. "We had a lot of good times," said DeBussey, who met Kurth in grade school and became good friends with him in high school. "Kurth was a pretty straight-laced guy. It was fun to get him to loosen up a bit," he said.