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Danvers soldier killed in Panama
Published: February 26, 2007
DANVERS - Brad A. Svoboda, a U.S. Army reservist who served in Iraq and Bosnia, died last week in a Humvee accident in Panama just days after he arrived there for a humanitarian mission.
The 29-year-old Svoboda, a longtime Danvers resident, volunteered to go to Panama for three to six months while he waited to hear back from jobs in the Foreign Service, FBI or the CIA, his mother and sister said yesterday.
"My brother traveled all over the world doing humanitarian work with the Army Reserve," said his younger sister, Kelly Cison of Chicago. "He was extremely bright and he was courageous."
Svoboda, a staff sergeant, was one of two Army reservists killed in the crash. The other was Christopher Conn of California. The Humvee the two were traveling in was struck by a truck near the town of Miramar, about 300 miles west of Panama City, the U.S. Embassy said.
Two other reservists suffered less severe injuries in the crash, the embassy said. A Panamanian traveling in the Humvee was also injured, as was the driver of the truck.
Many Danvers residents have served in the military, but the town has not lost a soldier in many years, said Town Manager Wayne Marquis.
"My heart goes to the young man's family and I'm sure I speak for everybody in town," Marquis said.
Svoboda's mother, Mary, said her son arrived in Panama on Feb. 12. She last heard from him the day before he died when he left a message on her voice mail to let her know the phone and Internet had not yet been set up at his base. She never got a chance to talk to him.
His unit was participating in a humanitarian aid project, his survivors said. Panama once was home to extensive U.S. military bases until the Americans withdrew from the Canal Zone in 1999, when the canal was ceded to Panama.
In the western province of Bocas del Toro, reserve units are building schools and health clinics and providing medical assistance to local residents.
"He was a real hero, for real," said Brad's brother-in-law and Kelly's husband, Mark Cison. "He was building roads and schools. He didn't have to go. He did it because he wanted to."
Svoboda joined the Army in 1996 after graduating from Bishop Fenwick High School the year before. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Robert, an Army major now serving in Afghanistan. Robert Svoboda is on his way back to Danvers for the funeral. Arrangements have not been finalized.
The 29-year-old Svoboda, a longtime Danvers resident, volunteered to go to Panama for three to six months while he waited to hear back from jobs in the Foreign Service, FBI or the CIA, his mother and sister said yesterday.
"My brother traveled all over the world doing humanitarian work with the Army Reserve," said his younger sister, Kelly Cison of Chicago. "He was extremely bright and he was courageous."
Svoboda, a staff sergeant, was one of two Army reservists killed in the crash. The other was Christopher Conn of California. The Humvee the two were traveling in was struck by a truck near the town of Miramar, about 300 miles west of Panama City, the U.S. Embassy said.
Two other reservists suffered less severe injuries in the crash, the embassy said. A Panamanian traveling in the Humvee was also injured, as was the driver of the truck.
Many Danvers residents have served in the military, but the town has not lost a soldier in many years, said Town Manager Wayne Marquis.
"My heart goes to the young man's family and I'm sure I speak for everybody in town," Marquis said.
Svoboda's mother, Mary, said her son arrived in Panama on Feb. 12. She last heard from him the day before he died when he left a message on her voice mail to let her know the phone and Internet had not yet been set up at his base. She never got a chance to talk to him.
His unit was participating in a humanitarian aid project, his survivors said. Panama once was home to extensive U.S. military bases until the Americans withdrew from the Canal Zone in 1999, when the canal was ceded to Panama.
In the western province of Bocas del Toro, reserve units are building schools and health clinics and providing medical assistance to local residents.
"He was a real hero, for real," said Brad's brother-in-law and Kelly's husband, Mark Cison. "He was building roads and schools. He didn't have to go. He did it because he wanted to."
Svoboda joined the Army in 1996 after graduating from Bishop Fenwick High School the year before. He followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Robert, an Army major now serving in Afghanistan. Robert Svoboda is on his way back to Danvers for the funeral. Arrangements have not been finalized.
"They were really, really close," Cison said of her brothers. "They talked all the time."
Mary Svoboda believes both her sons joined the military because of their father, Alexandru.
"My husband is from Romania and he always used to say what a great country this is. All the time, he would say, 'What a great country,'" she said.
She said her husband, who grew up in communist Romania, would often quote the popular Soviet-born comedian, Yakov Smirnoff, whose signature line was, "America: What a country!"
As a family, they would often travel around the world for vacations. It was that sense of adventure that continued throughout the rest of Brad Svoboda's life.
He had been across Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean. His passport was so filled with entry/departure stamps from all over the world that he needed to get additional pages.
Svoboda traveled whenever he could find time, his family said.
After he served in Bosnia, he visited Syria and Lebanon.
On the social networking Web site, MySpace.com, he wrote about his wanderlust.
"I enjoy traveling and I am not too picky about where," he wrote. "If I haven't been there I'd probably be interested in going."
After Svoboda graduated from Salem State College in 2005, he left for the United Kingdom, where he spent a year earning his master's degree at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
He completed his classes but planned to attend his graduation at Wales after returning from Panama, his family said.
"Everywhere he went, he had a lot of friends," Kelly Cison said.
As Svoboda's family sat around the dining room table last night, they opened a photo album filled with pictures of the soldier's time in Iraq.
There are pictures inside Saddam Hussein's palace, picturesque landscapes of the Iraqi desert and photos of Svoboda and his buddies. In almost all the pictures Svoboda is in, his smile stretches from cheek to cheek.
"That's what people remembered most about Brad," said his mother. "He was always smiling."
Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
