Just 27, Staff Sgt. LeRoy Edward Alexander had everything going for him: A family who loved him and a wife expecting twins in October. And topping it all off, this Army Green Beret stationed in Afghanistan was due to come home in nine days.
INSTEAD, last Friday, June 3, while on duty with the 1st Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), he was killed when a homemade, roadside bomb detonated near the vehicle in which he was riding. The tragedy occurred near the Forward Operating Base Orgun-E in southeastern Afghanistan.
"They were in a convoy coming back from a mission, and there were three people in his vehicle — which was in the front," said his paternal grandmother, Helen Alexander of Centreville's Bull Run community. "Two were killed and one was injured. In 73 years, it's the worst thing that's ever happened to me."
She said the whole family's devastated. My husband LeRoy is in a lot of denial," she said Monday. "He keeps thinking they're gonna call and say it was a mistake. That's his way of handling it."
Known to his family as "Lee," Alexander was a Special Forces engineer sergeant. The son of Ronald and Felecia Alexander, he was raised in Chantilly's Pleasant Valley community until he was a sophomore at Chantilly High.
The family then moved to Dale City and he later graduated from Hylton High and joined the Army. He and his wife Marissa had been married five years, and she, too, was in the airborne branch of the Army. He was stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., prior to deploying overseas. His grandpa LeRoy said he was "doing so well in the service."
"Even when he went through Green Beret training, it never seemed to be too tough for him," said his grandmother. "He was thinking of making the Army a career but, with his wife expecting twins, he was re-thinking it. He was due to come home June 12 and was then to go somewhere else for eight months. Then he would decide whether to stay in."
BUT FRIDAY evening, Marissa called Lee's mother with the news of his death, and she called his grandparents. A memorial service will be held Friday at Fort Bragg, and burial will be in Arlington National Cemetery.
"You think it'll never happen to you," said his grieving grandmother. "But Lee loved what he was doing and always put in his best effort. So although he got killed, he died doing what he loved."
She said he was always a good boy and a loving grandson, and she proudly recalled his football-playing days at Hylton: "He was a safety and his team played in the state championship."
Most of all, though, said Helen Alexander, "He was such a gentleman. He's really going to be missed." She said he and Marissa liked motorcycle riding, and his grandpa LeRoy said they'd bought a new home and car.
Marissa's expecting a girl and a boy and, said Alexander, "They were planning a baby shower for July 2." Tuesday afternoon, Lee's grandfather said he's having a tough time dealing with the tragedy. "I can't get myself together," he said. "I can't eat."
His grandson was named after him, said LeRoy Alexander, "so he was my favorite grandson. I always called him my boy — he was just a nice person." And no matter what Marissa names their son, he said, "I'm gonna call him LeRoy."
After his death, Lee was awarded a Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal and Afghanistan Campaign Medal. His other military honors include: The Parachutist Badge and Air Assault Badge, Army Achievement Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, Combat Infantryman's Badge, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.