Their Story
Remembering Troy C Linden.
Troy Carlin Linden was born January 29, 1984, in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and graduated from Detroit Lakes High School in 2002. After graduation he moved to Billings, Montana, and in 2003 he joined the Army to help pay for college. After basic and advanced individual training at Fort Leonard Wood, he was stationed with the 54th Engineer Battalion, 130th Engineer Brigade, at Warner Barracks in Bamberg, Germany.
He deployed to Iraq in 2005. There he was the operator of an RG-31 that ran nightly route clearance on the main road in and out of Ramadi, and his convoys helped Marines and other special units get in and out of the city safely. Corporal Linden was killed by an improvised explosive device in Ramadi on July 8, 2006.
He was 22. That night he had taken a shift for a friend, something they had done for each other many times during that deployment.
Troy was a sweet, funny country boy who loved bonfires, Jeeps, music of every kind, and being outside in every season. He loved to sing, and while in Iraq he taught himself to play the guitar. He was a young man who would do anything for anyone.
He is deeply loved by his parents, Keith and Merry Lee; his siblings, Ryan (Angela) and Sarah (Todd); his nieces and nephews, some of whom never had the chance to meet him; and so many friends. One of his mother's most prized possessions is a letter he wrote to "Dear Someone" about his life, his regrets, his accomplishments and his dreams.
At the bottom he wrote, "I will walk on with my faith and be strong." Those words have become his family's ethos.
He rests at Egelund Cemetery in Becker County, Minnesota.