GROVER BEACH, CA, USA U.S. Army SGT, COMPANY E, 215TH SUPPORT BATTALION, 3 BCT, FORT HOOD, TX 76544 BALAD, IRAQ 02/14/2007
Army Sergeant Carl Leonard Seigart, whose wife and four stepchildren live in Picayune, was killed in Iraq on Valentine’s Day as he participated in a tank recovery mission, his family said.
“We were notified yesterday that he was killed while on the mission,” said Jessica Moeller, the soldier’s stepdaughter. She said Seigart was a tank mechanic with the 1st Cavalry, 3rd Battalion, out of Fort Hood, Texas.
Radio station WRJW in Picayune reported that other family members were told Seigart died near Balad, Iraq. The family said they were told he was killed by an improvised explosive device.
Moeller said her mother, Suzanne Smith Seigart, had lived with her stepfather in Killeen, Texas, but had recently returned to Picayune. She said her mother had health concerns and was staying with her while Seigart was overseas on his first tour in Iraq. He had been in the Army for 14 years. She said Seigart was a native of San Luis Obispo, Calif.
Moeller, whose husband Jonathan was a close friend of Seigart, said Seigart’s mother lived in California but he had no additional details. Jessica Moeller said other survivors include her three brothers — Josh, Sam and Jake — and their families.
Jonathan Moeller said Seigart’s funeral would be held in Picayune. Suzanne Seigart had a difficult time on Wednesday but “she’s better today,” he said. “She’s improving. She has a lot of support.”
Carl L. Seigart loved cars and loved to help people, twin passions he turned into a 14-year career with the military. After Hurricane Katrina hit, the 32-year-old tank mechanic packed up supplies at Fort Hood, Texas, and traveled to the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to aid his wife’s family.
“He was a very dedicated solider who believed in his job,” his wife, Suzanne Seigart, told the Picayune Item in Picayune, Miss., about 50 miles north of New Orleans.
A native of San Luis Obispo, Seigart joined the Army shortly after graduating from high school there, where he loved working on cars in auto shop class.
“Everybody loved him there,” said his mother, Darlene Seigart.
Seigart had been married to his wife for six years and had taken on her four children as his own, Suzanne Seigart said. Seigart’s family plans to hold services for him in Picayune, where his wife was living while he was deployed.