Douglaston Soldier Killed In Iraq

Only months after narrowly escaping death in an Iraqi attack, Douglaston resident, US Army Specialist Roger Ling, 20 was one of two US soldiers killed on February 19 in a roadside bombing in Iraq. Specialist Ling was with Second Lieutenant Jeffrey Graham, 24, of Elizabethtown, Kentucky near Khaldiyah, about 50 miles west of Baghdad, when the bomb went off. Both soldiers had been stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas before being deployed to Iraq in September of 2003.
The Queens Courier was unable to reach Lings family, but according to published reports, his sister wanted to emphasize that Ling was a good man, who always put others before himself, and should never be forgotten.
The young hero joined the Army in 2001, right after graduating from Benjamin N. Cardozo High School in Bayside. During his high school years he lived with his father, who moved from Jamaica to Douglaston when he and Lings mother separated.
When Ling was deployed to Iraq, his father was concerned, but believed his son was doing well.
Ling was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 34th Armor, 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division and was an armor crewman in the Company C unit.
Ling is the eighth soldier from New York City to be killed in Iraq since operations began. As of Friday, 544 US service members have died. there.