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COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS -- The family of a fallen Utah soldier is grieving the death of their son, brother and husband.
Sgt. Aaron Kramer, 22, was shot and killed during a firefight with enemy soldiers Thursday. His parents and twin brother returned from Delaware late Saturday night where they saw his casket draped with an American flag.
Aaron's father Rick says his son loved his country, and that after 9/11, his dream was to be in the Army. He says he takes comfort in the fact his son died living his dream.
"No matter what you do, you're never quite prepared for it," Rick says.
The hundreds of flags that line the street of the Kramer's Cottonwood Heights neighborhood are a beautiful reminder of what Aaron served for.
Army pictures, awards and memorabilia line the Kramer household walls. Proof of how proud Rick was of his son, who's now gone.
Rick says the family always knew something like this could happen, but until it did, they never knew how they would feel.
Rick got the news Thursday afternoon. "Aaron's wife called me and said the officers had been there and of course she was crying and I knew what had happened," he says.
No matter what you do, you're never quite prepared for it.
–Rick Kramer
Apparently, Aaron was shot when he led his unit to go after enemy soldiers who fired at them first. He died in a medical helicopter on the way to the hospital.
Aaron was an Army Ranger-qualified airborne infantryman with the 101st Airborne Division. But it was an accomplishment that almost didn't happen.
During an Army physical, Aaron found out he was partially deaf in one ear. Rick says his son took the news very hard.
"He had these big crocodile tears coming down his eyes and he said, ‘I don't know what I'm going to do,'" Rick says.
Aaron's ear was surgically repaired, just so he could enter the military. Aaron and his twin brother Brandon joined at the same time and loved it.
Now, only one of them is alive.
"You're thinking it's a dream. You're hoping it's a dream. You keep thinking you're going to wake up and it's all going to be back to normal," Rick says.
Rick says it finally hit him at Dover Air Force Base, when he saw Aaron's casket covered with the flag.
"I tried to prepare myself for this sort of thing. But boy, when it happens to you, you think it's always going to happen to someone else," he says. "I just don't want people to forget about the ones that are over there and the ones that are fallen, how important it is to remember them."
The Kramers are expecting Aaron's body to return to Utah in about three to seven days. They considered having the funeral at Arlington, but decided he'd want to have it here in Utah, his home.
E-mail: ngonzales@ksl.com
