Soldier killed in Iraq during humanitarian mission

By Kari Pugh

Published: November 27, 2008

Forest Park High School student Diana Davis and her soldier dad bonded through their love of soccer, and that shared passion continued when he was sent to Iraq.

The two devised a plan to deliver donated soccer balls to Iraqi children during Army Master Sgt. Anthony Davis’ humanitarian missions in impoverished towns and villages.

On Monday, Davis was on one of those missions when he was shot dead by someone dressed as an Iraq Security Force officer.

“He was actually about to retire when they sent him to Iraq,” his daughter said Thursday as friends and family gathered at the Davis home in Triangle to mourn.

Davis, 43, was delivering food and relief supplies near Biaj when he and six others were shot, according to the Department of Defense. A Marine was also killed in the attack.

“The attack appears to have been unprovoked,” said Col. Bill Buckner, spokesman for the Multi-National Corps in Iraq. “It is unknown if the attacker was an Iraqi soldier or an insurgent in disguise.”

Davis, an Army veteran of 26 years, was serving with the Military Transition Team based in Fort Riley, Kansas, and had volunteered to serve on the dangerous humanitarian missions.

His team focused on delivering food and school supplies — and made it a point to “win the hearts and minds of the population,” Davis said in an e-mail to the News & Messenger earlier this month.

Diana Davis, who plays soccer at Forest Park, said she hopes to continue the soccer ball project in memory of her father.

Soon after he deployed, she began collecting school supplies for Iraqi kids, but after hearing her father’s stories of youngsters playing soccer with pretty much anything they could find resembling a ball, she decided to act.

Diana, 18, and her friends gathered used soccer balls to ship to her father and he distributed them while out on his missions.

MaxTouch Soccer Academy in Woodbridge, where Diana took lessons, soon got in on the project, collecting balls from customers.

The News & Messenger published a story about the father-daughter effort on Nov. 13.

“We want the family and community to know that we’ll continue the collection effort in memory of Anthony Davis,” MaxTouch general manager Alex Hall said Thursday. “Anything the family would like us to do, we will.”

Diana Davis said her father was always excited to talk about the soccer ball project. He believed part of his team’s purpose in Iraq was to gain the trust of children.

“We must remain vigilant and pray that we a getting through to the younger generation, who will one day inherit this nation, so that they remember us as peaceful and encouraging not intruders and invaders,” Anthony Davis wrote in an e-mail from Iraq.

The soldier’s death sent shock waves through the Kerril Woods neighborhood, where his family lives.

“Anthony volunteered for humanitarian assistance duty so he could devote himself to the soccer ball plan and really reach out to the surrounding Iraqi communities in need of assistance,” said Joe Albuquerque of the Kerril Woods Homeowner’s Association. “That’s the Anthony we knew and loved.”

Davis leaves behind his wife, five children between the ages of 9 and 26, and a 4-year-old grandson. Information about funeral arrangements wasn’t available Thursday.

Kari Pugh can be reached at 703-878-8056.