Rank: Specialist
Unit: HHD, 1st Battalion, 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment
Duty station: Fort Polk, Louisiana
MOS: 92G – Food Service Operations Specialist
Awards: Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon
Badges: M-16 Rifle Qualification Badge, Hand Grenade Qualification Badge
Deployments: 1 in Iraq
Enlisted: 1999
Date of birth: 17-Nov-1970
Hometown: West Blocton, Alabama
High School: High School GED certificate
Campaign: Iraq
Died: 24-Jun-2003
Age at death: 32
Cause of death: Noncombat – gunshot-self-inflicted, suicide
Location of fatality: Baghdad, Iraq
Click to open an external link to view general location of Soldier’s fatality.
Place of interment: Caffee Cemetery in West Blocton, Alabama
Click to open an external link to view Soldier’s grave site on the Find A Grave website.
Notes: Cedric had lived with his grandmother at the end of a rural gravel road just outside West Blocton, Alabama, and received his High School GED certificate from the state of Alabama in 1996. Cedric entered active duty on September 29, 1999 in Montgomery, Ala. for a three-year enlistment. He was assigned to the US Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Ga. where he attended Basic Combat Training from October to December. Cedric graduated in December and was then assigned to the US Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, Va. in January 2000. He attended advanced individual training in military occupational specialty 92G, Food Service Operations Specialist, and graduated in March 2000. Cedric was assigned as a Food Service Specialist to the Headquarters and Headquarters Troop (HHT), 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment at Fort Polk, La on March 30, 2000. On February 26, 2002, Cedric re-enlisted in the Army for an additional four years. He was promoted to the rank of Specialist on January 1, 2003. He and his unit deployed to Iraq on May 2, 2003 to assist in US military efforts to stabilize the country.