Kenneth Michael Ballard, 26

Army, 1st Lieutenant

Based: Friedberg, Germany

2nd Battalion, 37th Armor Regiment, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: May 30, 2004

Najaf, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Mountain View

High School: Mountain View High (Mountain View)

Burial: Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va.

It took more than a year for the military to inform Ballard's family that he was not killed in action, as the Army originally said, but from an accidental discharge of a weapon in his tank.

Bumrok Lee, 06/02/2004

Rafael Reynosa Suarez, 05/29/2004

Eight memories of Kenneth Michael Ballard

“

Remembering one of my closest friends and college roomates this weekend. We had so many great times and I knew we were going to be friends for life. Still remember talking to him right before he left for Iraq. Knew he was happy to be seeing his buddies in Germany and that we would email back and forth. When I found out what happened was still one of the hardest days of my life. Gone way to soon, but never forgotten. He still pushes me to this day and I miss him a ton. Prayers to his Mom this weekend who he loved dearly and called from our apartment all the time. He would tell us all now not to be sad, just crank up the tunes as he did all the time and enjoy life! RIP my good friend.

” — Kevin Emmert, May 25, 2018 at 2:44 p.m.

Search by: Age, Base, Branch, Cemetery, Date of Death, Country of Birth, Gender, High School, Hometown, Marital Status, Name, Number of Children, Theater of Operation, Place of Death

Sources: Times research, Defense Department, iCasualties.org

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Kenneth Michael Ballard, 26

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Eight memories of Kenneth Michael Ballard