When you first met him, Chad Clements could be very timid. But after he got to know you, he was your best friend.
That was one of the first things Clements’ sister recalled about him Tuesday, less than 24 hours after the 26-year-old Army soldier from Huntington was killed by a roadside bomb while on a mission in Afghanistan.
“Chad had a big heart,” Danielle Clements said in a Facebook message sent to The Journal Gazette.
He was killed by an improvised explosive device Monday, his sister said in the message.
He is the first area soldier killed in combat in more than two years.
Few details have been released about the death of Pfc. Chad Clements, including where his death occurred. His death has not been confirmed by the Department of Defense.
Monday night, the Los Angeles Times reported that seven U.S. troops were killed in roadside blasts that day, but none of those soldiers was identified. According to the newspaper, one of the blasts killed five troops riding in a Humvee on the outskirts of Kandahar, which the U.S. military has focused on securing.
Clements joined the Army in 2009 to “serve and protect” his country, his sister said. He was a 2002 graduate of Huntington North High School and was stationed at Fort Carson, Colo. His job in the military involved transportation, his sister said.
Clements had been home in Huntington for two weeks before being deployed Aug. 5.
“Chad loved his family and friends with all his heart,” Danielle Clements said.
She also recalled her brother’s love of the Fort Wayne Komets and Pittsburgh Penguins hockey teams and collecting memorabilia of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt.
He also admired a certain NFL quarterback when he was younger and would delight his family when donning that quarterback’s jersey.
“Our fondest memory of Chad was when he was little he used to dress up like Joe Montana!” she said in the Facebook message.
Clements is preceded in death by his father, Daniel R. Clements, and a brother, Zachary James, his sister said. In addition to his sister, he is survived by his mother, Anne Beady Tarter, and his stepfather, Ed Tartar, as well as grandparents, stepgrandparents, a stepbrother and stepsister and a host of other family members and friends.
According to the Washington Post, 1,220 U.S. troops had been killed in the war in Afghanistan as of Aug. 24. In Iraq, 4,403 U.S. troops have been killed, according to the newspaper.
