Brother: Sunny McAllen soldier gone, not forgotten

McALLEN — Family, friends and fellow soldiers gathered Sunday at the McAllen Convention Center to remember Spc. Kurt Kern, recalling his ready smile that would light up the room.

"That is the one thing, if you ask people who Spc. Kern was, they might not know him by name, but they know him by smile," said Army Lt. William Gribble, who served with Kern in the 720th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade based at Fort Hood.

Kern, a McAllen Memorial High School graduate, and two other soldiers were killed Dec. 27 after a roadside bomb exploded in Paktia, Afghanistan, south of Kabul near the border with Pakistan. He was 24.

At his memorial service, photos projected onto two large screens chronicled Kern’s life, showing him at birthdays and grade school graduations, high school dances and parties with friends. One showed Kern, an aspiring chef, creating a flaming volcano from a chopped onion on a teppanyaki grill. Another showed him posing with other soldiers on an armored vehicle.

In a eulogy, Kern’s brother, Keith Kern, recalled his brother’s relentless optimism.

Despite childhood challenges, including epilepsy, Kurt always had a smile on his face, Keith Kern said, adding that long before his brother joined the Army in September 2009, he’d been a hero to friends and family who needed a sympathetic ear or a shoulder to lean on.

"We’re going to miss him, and there will always be an empty space left in our hearts for him," Keith Kern said, but Kurt’s memory will always be with them.

Since October 2001, when the United States launched Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, 1,742 American service members, including 146 from Texas, have died there, according to an Associated Press database that tracks casualties. At least 67 percent have been — like Kern — younger than 25 years old.