Hartwick, Robert Preston
Male
Verified U.S. Army Specialist Robert Preston Hartwick, 20, of Rockbridge, Ohio, was killed in a hostile incident in Baghdad, Iraq, on June 6, 2011.
Their Story
Robert Preston Hartwick was a 20-year-old specialist from Rockbridge, Ohio, serving with Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team based at Fort Riley, Kansas. He deployed to Iraq in support of Operation New Dawn.
On June 6, 2011, Hartwick was killed in Baghdad. According to the Department of Defense, his death was the result of hostile enemy action. He was one of at least four U.S. service members killed in separate incidents in Iraq that day.
Operation New Dawn was the final phase of the U.S. military mission in Iraq, spanning from September 2010 to December 2011. It followed the official end of Operation Iraqi Freedom and focused on advising and assisting Iraqi security forces as U.S. combat troops withdrew.
Hartwick's body was returned to Ohio, where a funeral service was held at the Rockbridge United Methodist Church. He was buried with military honors in Floral Hills Memory Gardens in Chillicothe.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, and other commendations. Hartwick is memorialized on the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America website and other veterans' memorials.
Explore Further
Hartwick was killed during Operation New Dawn (2010?2011). The conflict concluded in December 2011. See the full roster of those killed in this conflict.
Among those documented in the same conflict: Jenkins, Phillip Chad, Mcclamrock, James Fleet, Hansen, James Arthur, Burner, John Franklin Iii.
