Santa Rita grad dies in Afghanistan
by Multiple Authors on Feb. 23, 2009, under Local, Nation/World, SpecialMaster Sgt. David L. Hurt killed by improvised explosive device Friday
Master Sgt. David L. Hurt, 36
A Santa Rita High school graduate, who “loved being a soldier” and “was proud of his country,” has been killed in Afghanistan.
The Department of Defense said Sunday that Master Sgt. David L. Hurt, 36, and a soldier from Illinois died from injuries caused by an improvised explosive device. They were in a military vehicle Friday near Khordi in Oruzgan province when they were attacked.
Small arms fire followed during the attack by enemy forces.
Hurt’s mother, Bonnie Hurt, said she talked to her son Wednesday. Two days later he was dead.
A medic in her son’s unit had been killed the week before and Hurt and other soldiers in the unit were having a difficult time dealing with his death, Bonnie Hurt said.
“He was telling me they were taking the death of the medic hard and he was trying to keep his men occupied,” she said.
Her son always signed off telling his mother he loved her, and Wednesday was no exception.
“He said, ‘I’ve got to go, I love you,” she recalled.
Hurt and the other soldier killed with him, Staff Sgt. Jeremy E. Bessa, 26, were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group in Fort Bragg, N.C.
Bessa died at the scene while Hurt died from his wounds after being evacuated to Kandahar Airfield for treatment, according to the U.S. Army.
Hurt, a native of Oak Park, Ill., moved to Tucson with his family at age 3, said his mother, Bonnie Hurt, 65.
He enlisted in Tucson in November 1992, according to the U.S. Army.
Before that, his mother said, he had graduated from Santa Rita High School, where he played football on the school team.
“He went in (to the Army) on Veteran’s Day,” she said.
“He loved being a soldier, he was proud of his country,” Hurt said.
And, she added, he was proud to be in the Special Forces, an elite unit.
Master Sgt. Hurt loved Tucson, he “talked about it all the time, he loved it,” his mother said.
“He wanted to take his family there, but he never had the chance,” Hurt said.
After basic and advanced training he was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., and later to the 20th Engineer Brigade. He earned his Green Beret in May 2000 and was assigned to the 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne).
Hurt lived in Grays Creek, N.C., before he left for Afghanistan in January on his fifth deployment.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, the Valorous Unit Award and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award, according to his U.S. Army biography.
He is survived by his wife, Kelly, daughter, Avery, and son, Wyatt, who live in Grays Creek, N.C.; his mother, Bonnie Hurt and sister Deborah Hurt, both of Hope Mills, N.C.; and father, Joe Hurt of Memphis, Tenn.
If you knew David Hurt in Tucson, please call City Editor Diane Luber at 573-4596.
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Our Fallen
To read about other Tucson-area military personnel killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, go to tucsoncitizen.com/fallen.
To read other stories about local casualties or about the impact of the war here, go to tucsoncitizen.com/warathome.
By David L. Teibel, Fernanda Echavarri
