A Pryor soldier has become the first member of the Oklahoma National Guard to be killed in acton in Iraq, the state Military Department reported Wednesday.

Army Spc. Kyle A. Brinlee, 21, died Tuesday when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device, said Col. Pat Scully, the Military Department's chief spokesman.

He was the fifth Oklahoma soldier reported killed in Iraq in just over one month. Sixteen Oklahomas have died in Iraq or Afghanistan dating back to March 23, 2003. (See "OKLAHOMANS")

Brinlee's vehicle was in a six-vehicle convoy traveling from Alasad to what is known as Camp Wolf, the Military Department said. No other casualties were reported.

The area, Scully said, is near Fallujah, which has been the scene of intense fighting in recent weeks.

The explosion that claimed the life of Brinlee is under investigation.

Brinlee, a 2001 graduate of Pryor High School, was the son of Ronnie Brinlee and the late Traci Brinlee.

He was a member of the 120th Combat Engineer Battalion and was deployed to Iraq three months ago, the Military Department said.

Approximately 500 members of the 120th are in Iraq. The battalion has units in Pryor, Okmulgee, Muskogee, Eufaula, Tahlequah, Haskell, Stilwell, Wagoner, Okemah and Henryetta, Scully said.

The 120th is under the 90th Troop Command, which has its headquarters in Oklahoma City. The estimated 500-soldier deployment is the Oklahoma National Guard's largest for a single battalion to Iraq.

More than 800 members of Oklahoma's 45th Infantry Brigade, also an Army Guard unit, are in Afghanistan, Scully said. The 45th has not suffered any combat deaths.

The 120th specializes in construction, such as building roads and bridges, and clearing areas in combat zones, Scully said.

The Oklahoma Army National Guard has formed a team to assist the Brinlee family.

Brinlee joined the National Guard in April 2001 shortly before graduating from high school.

Lawrence Perkins, a counselor at Pryor High School, described Brinlee as "funny, happy, above average and very well liked." Brinlee played football at the school, the counselor said.

Brinlee had helped his father part time in the construction business and had assisted his father in the laying of a floor in the school's gymnasium, the counselor said.

Funeral services are pending.

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Rob Martindale (918) 581-8367
rob.martindale@tulsaworld.com

PRYOR -- Kyle Adam (Showler) Brinlee, 21, Oklahoma Army National Guard specialist, died Tuesday in Iraq. Services pending. Stephens.

The death of Oklahoma Army National Guard Spc. Kyle A. Brinlee in Iraq and the needs of American soldiers there have triggered new calls in the Tulsa area for a show of support for American troops serving in the combat zone and for their families at home.

Robert Showler, the biological father of the soldier; Barbara Porter, president of the Oklahoma Blue Star Mothers Department; and the state Military Department said support at home is an important morale builder for troops in the war zone.

Showler, of Broken Arrow, asked the public to "rally around these soldiers, these wives, these husbands and these families because every one of them is a hero."

Regardless of how one feels about the Iraqi war, he said, "we owe it to the servicemen and women."

It is difficult, he said, to explain fully the deep hurt of losing a member of the family to war.

"It feels like I have a knife in a broken heart and it is going to stay there forever," he said.

Brinlee was the adopted son of a Pryor man, said Showler, noting that his ex-wife who remarried is now deceased.

Showler said he and his biological son were extremely close in the year or so before the National Guard soldier went to Iraq earlier this year.

Showler said he received an e-mail from the Army Guard specialist shortly before his death, asking that Showler tell the soldier's 13-year-old sister "how much I love her."

Noting that the 13-year-old "is taking it hard," Showler said that is an example of why Oklahomans should show support for families as well as for the soldiers.

Porter expressed hope that the barrage of negative news about atrocities in Iraq doesn't overshadow the needs of the troops and their famiies.

"Our campaign must not stop," she said in a Thursday luncheon speech at the Tulsa Press Club.

"You can ask me, 'What do you think about this war? Should we be over there?' That's not my concern . . . I am concerned as a mother," said Porter, whose son is a Navy Officer.

Members of the Blue Star Mothers Department often attend deployments of Oklahoma troops and send "freedom boxes" of personal items to servicemen and women in Iraq.

The negative news from Iraq, Porter said, often overshadows reports of the constructive contributions made by the American troops, such as opening schools and improving the infrastructure of communities.

"The changes have to be great from the letters we are getting back" from the soldiers, Porter said.

The soldiers also show appreciation in their letters for the "freedom boxes," she said.

"I got a letter back today saying, 'Thank you. Thanks, America for thinking of us.' . . . It hits your heart and you know you are doing the right thing," Porter said.

The Blue Star Mothers group, which includes men, receives donations from the public for the packages mailed to Iraq. A note is placed in each package, Porter said, noting that it has been mailed by the Blue Star Mothers, "but the donations come from the hearts of Oklahomans."

Up to 9,000 of the "freedom boxes" have been sent to troops by the Blue Star Mothers Department, she said, noting that the general public and business interests have made it possible.

The death of Brinlee sparked prayer meetings for his family and the troops in Iraq.

They were held in several eastern Oklahoma communities by families with relatives and friends assigned to the 120th Combat Engineer Battalion headquartered at Okmulgee, said Maj. Louis Gibson.

Brinlee was a member of the 120th, which has 500 or more Army Guard troops in Iraq.

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Rob Martindale (918) 581-8367
rob.martindale@tulsaworld.com