Mount Pleasant soldier killed

MOUNT PLEASANT — He was an avid sportsman who loved soccer and the outdoors. But he also loved his country. On Wednesday, he died in Iraq.

Adam McKamey Wenger, 27, was the second Charleston-area soldier to have lost his life in the war on terror in about a month.

The circumstances are unclear and his family does not have many details. He had been in the Army for about eight years and leaves behind a wife and two young children.

His older brother spoke Thursday of someone who made sacrifices.

"He was a good kid," said David Wenger, 31. "He loved his country. He wanted to serve his country. He wanted to do his duty."

Adam Wenger was born and raised in Mount Pleasant and went to Christ Our King School and Wando High School before joining the service.

He was a sergeant assigned to the artillery, though David Wenger could not provide specifics about his brother's mission overseas.

He did say Adam had gone through four or five deployments and was assigned to Fort Stewart, Ga. He leaves behind a wife, Brandy; daughter, Aubrey 5; and a son, Matthew, 3. He was scheduled to return in December.

David Wenger said his brother loved the beach and was a goal keeper in the Hungryneck soccer league. His last trip home was in February. Even so, he "was proud to be there," Wenger said.

Wenger's mother, Jo, raised the family. She works for the South Carolina Stevedores Association. The death was relayed by military sources Wednesday night.

On the Internet, a memorial MySpace page for Adam Wenger was created that featured several photographs of him in military garb or in civilian clothes, surrounded by smiling children and others.

The page is titled "In memory of Adam Wenger, wishing this was just a dream." The mood is listed as "numb."

Associated Press reports from Iraq describe Wednesday as a violent and bloody day that included a suicide bomber who rammed his car into a police patrol on the road to Baghdad's airport, killing six people and wounding 12.

American losses listed that day included two U.S. soldiers wounded in a roadside bomb attack near the town of Karmah west of Baghdad as they responded to reports of a bomb in the area, the U.S. military said. The U.S. military also said an American soldier died of non-combat-related causes.

At least 4,191 U.S. military members have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. There are now approximately 151,000 U.S. troops in the country.

The last Charleston area soldier to have died in the war on terror was Army Capt. Richard Gordon Cliff Jr., 29, who was killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan on Sept. 29.

He was a graduate of Wando High School and Appalachian State University, and had been in the Army for six years.

The two soldiers did not know each other.

Funeral arrangements for Wenger were undetermined late Thursday.