SPC Dustin Allan Yancey, 22, formerly of Cedar Rapids was killed in action on November 4, 2005 while serving with the Army in Baghdad, Iraq.

Services will be held at 2:00 pm on Saturday, November 19, 2005 at Brosh Chapel, 1028 3 ^rd Street SE Cedar Rapids.  Military honors will be conducted by VFW Post #788. Visitation will be held from 4 to 8 pm on Friday at the chapel.  Burial will soon follow at Arlington National Cemetery.

Survivors include his father SFC Tim Yancey and mother Anita Walton Yancey; two brothers Timothy and Robert and sister Kimberly all of Goose Creek, South Carolina (a suburb of Charleston), sister Kelly (Eric) Lee and niece Samantha of Lewes, Delaware; grandfather Orval Walton of Cedar Rapids; grandmother Margaret Yancey of Cedar Rapids; and several aunts, uncles, and many cousins in the Cedar Rapids and surrounding areas.

Dustin was preceded in death by his grandmother Jane Walton and grandfather David Yancey.

A native of Cedar Rapids, Dustin was born January 4, 1983, and attended elementary schools in the Cedar Rapids area.  The Army moved his family to South Carolina in 1991.  Dustin graduated from Goose Creek High School.  He was a member of Goose Creek High School Chorus and JROTC.  He joined the Army in 2003.  He was a member of the 3 ^rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart, Georgia.  He belonged to a special platoon called Top Flite, an elite group that provided security to military convoys.  He was slated to be out of Iraq around the first of December and home in January 2006.  Dustin was a wonderful young man who was proud to serve his country.  In his last log Dustin wrote, "We have driven hundreds of thousands of miles and we have been blown up and shot at hundreds of times and made many detours discovering new routes along the way in and around Baghdad.  What we do here is for the safety of America, the freedom of Iraq and ourselves.  I do my job for everyone and no one because I take pride in what I do, and it doesn't matter who it is helping as long as it helps, if only a little.  I'm proud to be a part of the more than 33 solider group that may not seem like it, but they are all elite people, fathers, sons, daughters, wives, husbands, brothers, and sisters.  We are the backbone of our battalion.  We are Top Flite Security and we secure the WORLD."

Dustin comes home sooner than he had planned.  He leaves behind his comrades in Iraq, his many friends in the USA, but most of all his family.  As a family we are united in one thought, how much we loved Dustin who was nicknamed "The Most Advanced" by his buddies and commanding officers because of his driving/navigational skills as well as his abilities to tear apart and rebuild computers, play the guitar, and his talent with magic tricks.  We all pray for the safe return of all the men and women serving our country.

In lieu of flowers a memorial fund has been established in his honor.  Contributions may be sent in care of Brosh Chapel.

We love you Dustin.  Our family is smaller, but our hearts are larger for having had you with us for 22 years.  We all salute you.  Until we are all together again, you are our guardian angel.

Love Mom and Dad, your brothers and sisters, Grandmother, Grandfather, aunts and uncles, cousins, and niece.