Soldier remembered as selfless, dedicated

Three other soldiers were injured by the roadside bomb in Iraq.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR PENNSYLVANIA BUREAU
NEW CASTLE, Pa. -- Sgt. 1st Class Daniel Brozovich had a jovial nature about him, but when it came time to work, he was all business, according to fellow soldier Lt. Col. Grey Berrier II.
Berrier fondly remembered Brozovich -- known to his colleagues as "Bro" or "Sgt. Bro" -- on Friday at the New Castle National Guard Armory after announcing that the Greenville man had been killed in Iraq.
Brozovich, 42, a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, was on his third tour of duty in the past five years when was killed Wednesday. A roadside bomb exploded under the armored security vehicle in which he was a passenger.
Three other soldiers, all from the Pittsburgh area, were seriously hurt and are being treated in Iraq. They are expected to return to the United States when they are stabilized.
The men were part of a four-vehicle response team that was on its way to check out a suspected roadside bomb in Ashraf, Iraq, when their vehicle was hit by another, undetected, roadside bomb.
Brozovich was deployed as squad leader attached to the 3rd Platoon, Battery C Forward, 1st Battalion, 213th Air Defense Artillery. This was his third trip overseas since Sept. 11, 2001. His first tour was in Europe from July 2002 to March 2003. He went to Iraq from December 2003 to February 2005.
This last tour started in May with training, and Brozovich's group arrived in Iraq in September. The rest of the soldiers deployed in that group are expected to remain in Iraq until September 2007.
Very patriotic
Brozovich's brother-in-law, Michael Stevens, said Brozovich felt very strongly about serving his country.
"After returning from his first deployment in Iraq, he volunteered for a second one because he felt that there was more good he could do. Dan was selfless, meticulous, courageous, disciplined, patriotic and inspirational," Stevens said.
Berrier, also a member of the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, remembered Brozovich as selfless, volunteering for training that he had been exempt from shortly after returning from his tour of duty in 2005.
When Brozovich was home, he worked as a labor foreman at the State Regional Correctional Facility near Mercer, Pa.
A former Marine, he served in active duty from 1982 to 1986, and he joined the National Guard after completing his 47-month tour in the Marines.
Will be honored
He will posthumously receive the Purple Heart and the Combat Action Badge. His wife, Mary, son, Ryan, and parents, Anthony and Gloria, survive him.
Brozovich is the 26th Pennsylvania Army National Guard soldier killed in Iraq.
No funeral arrangements were announced.
cioffi@vindy.com