Plant City FL mourning a proud soldier

Mourning a proud soldier

By DAVE NICHOLSON

dnicholson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 13, 2010

PLANT CITY - The nation's war on terror once again has hit home.

Army Spc. David A. Croft Jr. became the eighth local serviceman to die in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2004. A ninth Plant City area soldier was listed as a noncombat death in Kuwait.

Croft was killed Jan. 5, three days before his 23rd birthday. His death came a little more than two months after Army Spc. Eric N. Lembke of Plant City was killed in Afghanistan.

Croft, a Durant High School graduate on his second tour in Iraq, was scheduled to leave the war zone on Monday, Jan. 18.

He is survived by his mother, Vickie, three sisters and a brother.

His fiancee, Susie Clark of Brandon, said he was a brave, proud solider who liked serving his country. She said he seemed to blossom after joining the Army in 2005.
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