Army Reserve Specialist Bert Edwards Hoyer, 23, of Ellsworth, Wisconsin, died Wednesday, March 10, 2004 in Baqubah, north of Baghdad, Iraq. Hoyer was killed in an explosion when his convoy was ambushed in a roadside bombing. Specialist Hoyer was was assigned to the 652nd Engineer Company, Army Reserves, out of Ellsworth, Wisconsin. A Minnesota Public Radio article said Hoyer's military Reserve unit had 179 members from the northwestern region of Wisconsin, relating areas of Minnesota, and northern Michigan. 

    According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Hoyer was a 1999 graduate of Ellsworth High School. Ellsworth is a rural community of around 3,000 people in northwestern Wisconsin not too far from Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Bert Hoyer enlisted in the Army Reserves while he was a student at Vermilion Community College in Ely, Minnesota. There he was studying wildlife management and had one semester left. Hoyer had left for Iraq in April, 2003. According to the Journal Sentinel, Bert enjoyed writing back to school kids in the sixth-grade who had been writing to soldiers in Iraq. Bert was the oldest son in his family. 

    The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel went on to mention Bert is remembered as enjoying the outdoors. While in high school, Hoyer was the manager of the girls basketball team. He also played clarinet and saxophone in the band; and had participated as an actor in productions of "Grease," "Wizard of Oz" and "Carousel."

    The Chippewa Herald notes that two of his military medals include the Army service medal and the Army Reserve component achievement medal. The Inter-County Leader out of northwest Wisconsin notes Hoyer had assisted in recovery from a 2001 tornado while working as an intern for Burnett County Forestry and Parks Department. Hoyer's parents were given his degree from Vermillion Community College posthumously. A Memorial Scholarship has been set up in Hoyer's memory. The Inter-County Leader went on to say Hoyer was remembered as, "...how helpful he was." He was also known as a "...big kid with the heart of gold who was really good at helping people...and his ability to handle responsibility." And, he had a knack of making people laugh in tying times. 

    At the time of his death Army Reserve Specialist Bert Edwards Hoyer was survived by his parents Larry and Peggy Hoyer; brother Darryl (Teri) Hoyer; sister Annie Hoyer; maternal grandmother Florence Kline; paternal grandparents, John and Donna Hoyer; paternal great-grandmother Edith Johnson. Specialist Hoyers' funeral was held at Ellsworth High School gymnasium. He was laid to rest in not far from Ellsworth in Our Savior’s Lutheran Cemetery, in rural Beldenville, Wisconsin. 

Information for this short biography about Army Reserve Specialist Bert Edwards Hoyer was pieced together from the following sources: Minnesota Public Radio, news.minnesota.publicradio.org, "Small town buries one of its own," March 17, 2004; The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "11th state soldier loses life in Iraq," March 12, 2004; The Chippewa Herald, "Ellsworth reservist killed in Iraq," March 12, 2004; The Inter-County Leader, the-leader.net, "A story about a young man named Bert," July 23, 2004; Wisconsin Department of Veteran Affairs "Fallen Heroes Page"; and, CNN.com "War Casualties Page."

Note: This "Wisconsin Military Casualties Afghanistan Iraq Compilation" Daily Dadio blog Category is under construction. Go to the Cooldadiomedia Web site and the Wisconsin War Casualties Page for a list of names noted by date of death. ( If readers know of other military service persons with Wisconsin connections that are not on the Web site comprehensive list of fatal casualties, or notice errors, please email Bob Keith at keithrg13@cooldadiomedia.com ).