By Associated Press
Cheektowaga, NY – A funeral Mass was held Saturday for Sergeant First Class Robert Derenda, who died August 5 in a highway crash in Iraq.
The 42-year-old Derenda was a drill instructor assigned to the 98th Army Reserve Division, training recruits for the Iraqi security forces. He grew up in Cheektowaga, graduated from the University at Buffalo and had been working as an engineer in Kentucky.
His duty in Iraq was to end next month. Nearly 40 soldiers were among those attending the service in Cheektowaga.
Said Major General Bruce Robinson, "He was our comrade, our buddy, an American soldier."
Derenda will be buried this week at Arlington National Cemetery in northern Virginia.
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