Ex-Anoka Marine killed in Iraq blast
Myron P. Medcalf, Star Tribune
December 16, 2005
A Marine from Minnesota was killed Wednesday in Iraq when a bomb exploded
near him, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Thursday.
Staff Sgt. Kenneth Blake Pospisil, 35, formerly of Anoka, died near Ar
Ramadi.
His mother, Jeanne Pospisil, said military officials told her that he was
killed instantly. Officials didn't say whether he was in a vehicle or on
foot, she said.
She said she and her husband, Ken, had visited their only son -- known as
Blake -- at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where he was stationed prior to being
deployed to Iraq in September. It was his first tour in country.
She said the military told her that her son was on his way to disarm an
"improvised explosive device" when it went off.
She said her son loved the Marine Corps and had dreamed of working with
explosives as a member of the military since he was a little boy in Anoka.
He would put on fireworks displays for neighborhood kids. He had served in
the Marine Corps for 18 years.
"He loved the Marine Corps," his mom said. "He was meant to go there [to
Iraq]. He wanted to go earlier."
Blake Pospisil grew up in Anoka and attended Anoka High School, before
joining the Army and getting his GED during basic training at Fort Leonard
Wood, Mo. A year later he joined the Marines.
His mother described her son as someone who kept a tight circle of friends
and didn't talk much about his job because of the risk associated with it.
"The Marine Corps is a tight-knit group," she said. "It was hard to talk to
people about his job."
Pospisil's father, Ken, said he and his wife, Jeanne, of Big Lake, got the
news Wednesday night that their only son had been killed.
He said that he lost a part of himself when he heard the news and that he
and his wife are still "really overwhelmed." He said he didn't want to talk
anymore.
"Everybody loved him," Jeanne said. "He was a wonderful friend."
She said her son was expected to return to the United States in March.
Blake Pospisil was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd
Marine Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
He is the 31st Minnesotan to die as a result of injuries sustained in the
Mideast during the Iraq war.
Staff writer Tom Ford and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Myron P. Medcalf . 612-673-4092