Brent M. Maher

Spc. Brent M. Maher, age 31, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, died on April 11, 2011, in Paktia province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry Regiment, Iowa National Guard, Shenandoah, Iowa.

Emil Kapaun, on your
way to Sainthood,
pray for Brent 

An 11-year military veteran, Brent Maher enlisted in the U.S. Navy in June 1998, serving until October 2005. He then joined the Iowa National Guard in May 2007 and was assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 168th Infantry, in Denison. He transferred to Company B, 1-168th Infantry, Shenandoah, in January 2008, where he was assigned as an Infantryman. He will be posthumously promoted to sergeant. 

Brent is survived by his wife, Brenna M. Maher, of Honey Creek; daughters Kaitelyn Elizabeth and Hannah Rose, and a son, Matthew Douglas, 8, all of Niles, Mich.; his mother, Cheryl L. Tyner and step-father Mick Tyner, both of Essex; a brother, Greg Maher, of Biloxi, Miss.; and grandparents Roy and Wilma McGraw, of Essex. He was preceded in death by his father, Matthew Maher.

Mick Tyner stated "Good people touch lives...and this guy did;  He loved helping struggling people and was always in the military. He wanted to serve."

Family members stated that Brent was making a difference in the lives of the Afghan people, and was proud of it.

Let us pray to God the Father, Jesus, all of the saints and all of the angels that Brent M. Maher is in heaven. Let us pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen