Public invited to remember soldier killed in Afghanistan

In honor of a Chief Warrant Officer Joshua Rodgers killed in Afghanistan on May 30, 2007, the public is invited to join his family in a walk on the anniversary of his death.

Every Friday since his death, Rodgers' family has walked in red shirts from the Carl's Jr., on South Carson Street to Highway 50 East and then back to Carl's Jr. The two-mile walk takes about an hour.

P.J. Degross, founder of webofsupport.com, said she has walked with the family on several occasions and they have extended an invitation for others to join them on the anniversary of his death.

The walk will begin at 5:15 p.m. on May 30 and participants are asked to wear red shirts and carry American Flags or other patriotic symbols.

Rodgers, 29, was among five killed when the Ch-47 Chinook he was co-piloting was apparently shot down by enemy fire in the Upper Sangin Valley in Afghanistan. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the crash.

A member of the 3rd General Support Aviation Battalion, 82nd Brigade Combat Team, Rodgers was stationed in Fort Bragg, N.C., where he lived with his wife, Casey Gilder Rodgers, of Gardnerville, and their three daughters ages 2, 3 and 7.

Rodgers deployed to Afghanistan in January and had previously served a year in Iraq.

He graduated from Douglas High School in 1997. He attended his freshman year at Carson High in 1994.