LITTLE ROCK — Sgt. Michael Strachota was killed in Afghanistan over the weekend while on his last mission before he was to come home on leave to celebrate his son’s third birthday.
Strachota, 28, of Pine Bluff joined the Army six years ago, said his father, Pat Strachota. He was a member of the 96th Transportation Company, 180th Transportation Battalion based at Fort Hood, Texas.
He is the 99th Arkansan killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2002.
Details of his death are not yet known, but he was killed while on a mission driving a military Heavy Equipment Hauler tractor-trailer truck moving supplies in Kandahar province.
“He was due to come home,” his father said Tuesday in a telephone interview. “Supposedly this was his last mission over there before his leave. He was coming home forhis son’s birthday.”
William Michael Strachota will turn 3 on July 5.
Strachota was deployed in Iraq when William was born in 2009.
“He’s going to miss his Daddy,” said Matt Strachota, Strachota’s older brother. “He doesn’t realize he’s gone yet.”
The Strachota family flew to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Tuesday for the arrival of Strachota’s body on a military transport plane.
Dover is where remains of those killed in war are taken, DNAtested and prepared for burial. Funeral arrangements are not set but are expected sometime next week.
Strachota joined the Army after marrying his wife, Lauren, also of Pine Bluff. He was the third generation of his family to serve in the Army. He had planned to apply for warrant officer school when he returned from his Afghanistan mission this fall.
Even with two deployments, Pat Strachota said, he never worried too much about his son.
“I must say, I never thought this would happen,” he said, fighting back tears.
Michael Strachota and his brother grew up in their family’s record store in Pine Bluff, which fostered his love of music. He also loved fishing and riding motorcycles.
Matt Strachota said his brother’s death is one of the hardest things he’s had to face.
“I’m five years older than him, so I always looked afterhim, kind of like a son almost. I was right there behind him every step of the way, no matter what. I was always his first phone call if he needed help,” he said.
While his brother was in Afghanistan, phone calls came less frequently, and sometimes it was hard to hear him. “It was hard to tell each other what we needed to, but we made it work,” Matt Strachota said.
He said he last talked with his brother Friday. They were making plans for his leave next week. Michael Strachota told his brother that he may not have a lot of time to spend with him with just two weeks of leave and William’s birthday plans.
“As long as he was alive, I was OK with that,” he said, adding quietly from his seat on a plane awaiting takeoff to Delaware: “I know he’s gone. But it hasn’t sunk in yet. It just hasn’t really hit me yet.”
A complete list of Arkansas-related war deaths can be found at www2.arkansasonline.com/warcasualties.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 06/27/2012