Army SFC. Shanaberger was assigned to 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Shanaberger was leading a convoy north of Taji, an impoverished area on the outskirts of Baghdad, when he noticed a suspicious vehicle and asked the Iraqis to step out of the vehicle and surrender their weapons – instead, they began firing. Shanaberger survived the first bullet that struck him in the chest where a bulletproof vest protected him. However, the next two bullets struck him in the side where he was vulnerable. Wentz attended Zephyrhills High School and enlisted in the Army at age 18. While in high school, he was in the ROTC. His instructor remembers how very humorous he was and had some trouble behaving himself, but he would end up making everyone laugh. During his 14 years in the Army, he did tours in Kuwait during Desert Storm and in Bosnia, Korea and Panama. He was assigned to the military police, but he had also trained with the 82nd Airborne and the elite Ranger program. He was glad he was able to go to these places because he thought he was making a difference. Wentz had been stationed in Iraq since January. When he spoke to his family on Sunday, March 21, it was a momentous occasion. It was the first time since his deployment that he was able to speak to his wife and their four children – it was also the last time.
Army SFC. Shanaberger was assigned to 21st Military Police Company, 16th Military Police Brigade, XVIIIth Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Shanaberger was leading a convoy north of Taji, an impoverished area on the outskirts of Baghdad, when he noticed a suspicious vehicle and asked the Iraqis to step out of the vehicle and surrender their weapons – instead, they began firing. Shanaberger survived the first bullet that struck him in the chest where a bulletproof vest protected him. However, the next two bullets struck him in the side where he was vulnerable. Wentz attended Zephyrhills High School and enlisted in the Army at age 18. While in high school, he was in the ROTC. His instructor remembers how very humorous he was and had some trouble behaving himself, but he would end up making everyone laugh. During his 14 years in the Army, he did tours in Kuwait during Desert Storm and in Bosnia, Korea and Panama. He was assigned to the military police, but he had also trained with the 82nd Airborne and the elite Ranger program. He was glad he was able to go to these places because he thought he was making a difference. Wentz had been stationed in Iraq since January. When he spoke to his family on Sunday, March 21, it was a momentous occasion. It was the first time since his deployment that he was able to speak to his wife and their four children – it was also the last time.
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Records on Ancestry
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U.S., Newspapers.com™ Obituary Index, 1800s-current
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U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007
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U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current
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U.S., Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS Death File, 1850-2010
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U.S., Casualties From Iraq and Afghanistan Conflicts, 2001-2012
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