OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) --
An Oklahoma City soldier who
was killed in an insurgency attack in Iraq this week was a
happy, giving young man, family members and friends said
Friday.
Spc. Sonny Gene Sampler,
23, was one of five U.S. soldiers who died Thursday at a
military headquarters in Samarra, Iraq, when insurgents detonated a car bomb and fired
mortars at the building.
Rellon "Skeeter" Sampler
said the family learned of his
younger brother's death Thursday afternoon.
"He was a first-class kid,"
Skeeter Sampler said. "He'd do
anything for you. He always
had a smile on his face."
Sonny Sampler grew up in
Altus and moved to Oklahoma
City with his family. He attended John Marshall High School
before getting his GED.
In 2001 he joined the Army,
which his friend Dylan Toombs
said Sampler saw as a way to
better himself.
"He wanted to kind of make
something of himself and have
a direction in life," Toombs
said.
"He thought when he came
out of the military he would
have a pretty straight head on
him."
But Toombs said the main
reason Sonny Sampler gave for
joining the Army was so he
could save money and help his
family.
Skeeter Sampler said the last
time he talked to his brother,
Sonny Sampler said he was
looking forward to coming
home for two weeks of leave
beginning Aug. 1.
Toombs said he spoke to
Sonny Sampler two weeks ago.
"He was pretty much just
telling me what was going on
where he was staying," he
said.
"I didn't like talking to
him much about that kind of
stuff.
"You don't want to talk to
him very much in that situation because you don't want to
make too many promises,"
Toombs said. "You never know
what is going to happen next."
