FORT CARSON, CO, U.S.A.
U.S. ARMY
SSG, C, 1ST BAT, 506TH INF REG, 1ST BCT, 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION
03/20/2008, ROCK HILL, SC, U.S.A.
Lee Alan Brooks was born in Rock Hill, SC to Debbie Carlton Brooks of Rock Hill. He was a seven year veteran of the U.S. Army. He served in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
SSG Brooks was a 150 pound teenage wrestler at Northwestern High School. He was a tough competitor. He joined the National Guard in Rock Hill after high school graduation in 2001.
SSG Lee Alan Brooks was wounded November 17, 2004 and died of his wounds on March 20, 2008. SSG Brooks was a sniper and a Team Leader. His injures were the result of an IED that hit the vehicle in which he was riding. He did his job “impeccably” according to his peers.
SSG Brooks remained committed to the young men who depended on him for survival, and stayed downrange despite his wounds until his men redeployed to Fort Carson, CO. He returned home with shrapnel in his leg, metal plates in the part of his injured back, and a traumatic brain injury in 2004.
He suffered days of brutal pain, other days were just a little less difficult. And there were seizures from the TBI according to Debbie Carlton Brooks, his mother.
Lee Alan Brooks was about to start civilian life, no longer able to be a soldier. Since childhood when SSG Brooks wore GI Joe clothes, he was determined to be a soldier. But the soldier of two wars died at the age of 26.
SSG Brooks was always there for his daughter Rylee at the father-daughter dances sponsored at Fort Carson. “The first one, she was just a few months old,” said Krista Brooks. “He held her up like a trophy.”
Brooks earned the Purple Heart and the Meritorious Service Medal and more.
“He was not killed in combat, but Lee was a casualty of war,” Debbie Brooks added.
“We thought after he survived two wars, we had him back forever,” explained an aunt, Tammy Spencer.