Narrowsburg man killed in Iraq

Casualty of small arms fire

NARROWBURG, NY — Pfc. Anthony Kaiser, 27, was killed in Baghdad, Iraq on March 17. According to the Department of Defense (DOD), Kaiser “died of wounds suffered when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using small arms fire. Kaiser was assigned to the 504th Military Police Battalion, 42nd Military Police Brigade, Fort Lewis, WA.”

A spokesman for the DOD said he did not know when Kaiser’s body would arrive in the United States, and that the time could vary depending on circumstances in Iraq.

Kaiser, a military policeman, joined the Army in September 2005, according to a Fort Lewis public information officer.

Kaiser, who grew up near Skinners Falls, graduated from Narrowsburg Central School in 1998.

Kaiser suffered two tragedies in his brief life: his mother died of cancer when he was 13 years old, and his older brother, Brian, was killed in a car accident in 1997.

Before joining the army, Kaiser worked for a brief time with the New York State Police, and he was a member of the Narrowsburg Fire Department.

Congressman Maurice Hinchey, who has been an outspoken critic of the war since before it started, was angered over Kaiser’s death. He told www.midhudsonnews.com, “Anthony Kaiser lost his life two days before the fourth year of the so-called war, which is an illegal, unnecessary invasion, and a subsequently disastrous occupation of Iraq by this administration, which has been carried out in a most corrupt and incompetent way. But, when you have someone like this who is close to you, who grew up in Narrowsburg and still has family there, it really brings it home.”

Kaiser’s father, Andrew Kaiser, works at Catksill Regional Medical Center.

Kaiser’s step brother, Michael Kelly, told the Times Herald Record, that Kaiser “wasn’t crazy about being there. But he understood he was there to do a job and do the best job he could.”

Funeral plans have not yet been announced.