Tulsa World: BA rites set for Fort Sill soldier

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BA rites set for Fort Sill soldier

By MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer
Published: 4/18/2003
Last Modified: 8/21/2008 7:45 AM

The Army sergeant from Colorado killed April 3 in Iraq has relatives in the Tulsa area.

Sgt. 1st Class Randall Rehn, a career soldier from Fort Sill who was killed during combat in Iraq, will be buried next week in Broken Arrow, his family announced Thursday.

Rehn grew up in Longmont, Colo., and much of his immediate family still lives there. But he also had relatives in the Tulsa area, and his wife, RaeLynn Rehn, wanted the gravesite nearby because she likely will relocate to Tulsa to work here, family members said.

His funeral will begin at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday at Floral Haven Funeral Home, 6500 S. 129th East Ave. A burial service, with full military honors, will follow at Floral Haven Memorial Gardens.

Rehn was one of three soldiers, all based at Fort Sill before the war, who were killed April 3, apparently after a U.S. fighter jet mistakenly bombed an Army artillery position south of Baghdad.

Born Dec. 17, 1966, Rehn was 36 years old.

He left behind a 7-month-old daughter.

"He loved the idea of being a father, because he was a real family man," said Robert Rehn, an uncle who lives in Broken Arrow. "He had his head screwed on straight."

A veteran of the first Gulf War, Sgt. Rehn planned to retire from the Army after the current war ended, his uncle said.

"I don't know if he had any definite plans, but he said this was going to be his last

hitch," Robert Rehn said. "I guess he wanted a quieter life."

Fort Sill conducted its own memorial service April 10. On the same day, the Rehn family attended a separate memorial service in Longmont, where Gov. Bill Owens eulogized him as "a son of Colorado."

Rehn always intervened when he saw someone being picked on, the governor reportedly said during the service.

"He got in more than a few fights that way," Owens said, "sticking up for people he didn't know."

And that's precisely what he was still doing as a soldier in Iraq, Owens said.

Other survivors include his mother, JoAnn Rehn, and two brothers, Joe Rehn and Jim Rehn, all of Longmont.

Memorial contributions are being collected by the Randall Scott Rehn Memorial Fund at the Bank of Oklahoma.

Michael Overall 581-8383
michael.overall@tulsaworld.com

By MICHAEL OVERALL World Staff Writer

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