Army Master Sgt. Hurt was assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He died at the Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, after being rushed there for treatment from wounds received in Khordi, Afghanistan. His military vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device followed by small arms fire attack by enemy forces. David moved to Tucson, Arizona with his family at the age of 3 years. From the time he was very young, he was fascinated with the Army and would put his little toy soldiers thru their paces. Years later, after he had joined the Army, his mother would find these same small toy soldiers spread across a table – David was using them to plan out real-life tactics. He made good on his love for the Army by joining in 1992 after graduating from Santa Rita High School and became a Green Beret in 2000. His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Commendation Medal, Master Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge, the Valorous Unit Award and the Joint Meritorious Unit Award. David was on his fifth deployment in the war on terror. He was sent to Afghanistan in January but kept in touch with his family as much as possible – sometimes he was only able to send, "I love you". David had a very personal connection with the other soldiers he was responsible for and cared deeply for them. The last time his mother spoke to him, two days before his death, he was trying to keep his group's spirits high after a medic had been killed the week before. He wanted to keep these young kids busy so they wouldn't have time to dwell on the tragedy. But more than anything, David loved his family, wife Kelly, an 11 year old daughter and 5 year old son. He loved doing things with his kids and took them everywhere.