Family and friends are coming together to honor a great life lost too soon. Sgt. Kyle Osborn, 26, was killed Thursday after being ambushed in a gun-fight in Afghanistan.
“He was quite a young man. I don’t think he failed,” said Creigh Osborn, Kyle’s father. “He was a born leader. He led by example.”
Osborn was the sole soldier killed during a fire fight in Afghanistan. He was six weeks into his first deployment.
“If I was in that foxhole, I’d reach out and grab that kid in a heartbeat,” said Creigh. “He's the guy you wanted next to you. He was a warrior but he died loving what he wanted to do.”
The Clark Hills native was a star high school wrestler, studied civil engineering in college and devoted the last years of his life in the military. Creigh Osborn still remembers the day his son made the decision to serve shortly after the September 11th attacks.
Osborn went on to become an army ranger and trained recruits into the role. The humble leader was about to start sniper school before he was deployed.
“He could have chosen any path in the military,” said Creigh. “That's what I was telling his friends, ‘Can you imagine him sitting around somewhere stirring soup in some kitchen?’ That's not Kyle Bruce.”
The Osborns will be flying to the Dover Air Force Base in Delaware where Kyle's body will be received. The family then plans to bring his remains back to Indiana where he will be buried by his grandfather.
"I told him he didn't have to be a hero. He was already one to us,” said Creigh. “He will be missed, sorely missed.”
