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A Helena soldier who was among the U.S. forces that took control of Baghdad's international airport has died in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced Friday.
Capt. Michael MacKinnon died Thursday in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his Humvee while he was on patrol. MacKinnon, 30, was based at Fort Stewart, Ga. He was assigned to the Army's 4th Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, but had recently been moved to command A Company, First Battalion, 184th Infantry of the California National Guard. He was nine months into his second combat tour. MacKinnon was with the 3rd Infantry Division when soldiers secured the Saddam International Airport and renamed it the Baghdad International Airport in early April 2003. MacKinnon told the New York Times, in a story published on April 4, 2003, that he was flabbergasted at the lack of sustained resistance from the Republican Guard.
"He went on the original invasion of Iraq," and served for eight months, said his father, John MacKinnon. He returned home for a time and was sent back to Iraq nine months ago.
MacKinnon was a 1993 graduate of Helena Capital High School and a 1997 graduate of the West Point Military Academy. In addition to his father, MacKinnon is survived by his wife, Beth, and two children in Georgia, along with three older sisters. He is the 10th Montana soldier to have died serving in Iraq. "There's nobody here that has any rage or anger," said his sister, Laura Sullivan. "When he came home, he'd talk about the war - he believed in what he was doing. He felt he was making a difference. He said he belonged there and that they were all making a difference."
MacKinnon is the 14th man with ties to Montana to die in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001. The American death toll in Iraq passed 2,000 this week, and stood at 2,012 on Friday.
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