Vancouver, Wash., soldier killed in Iraq told his daughter goodbye

VANCOUVER, Wash. — When Master Sgt. Robb Needham phoned home from Iraq to talk with his daughter, he always signed off with, "I love you and see you later."

In their last conversation Sept. 18, Needham chose different words.

"He said he loves me, and he said 'goodbye,' " recalled Robi Lee Needham at funeral services Friday for her 51-year-old father.

Two days after that call — Sept. 20 — Needham died of small-arms fire while on patrol in Baghdad.

Needham, twice a grandfather, was one of the oldest U.S. casualties in an Iraq war that has claimed more than 2,700 U.S. soldiers, including more than 130 with ties to Washington state.

Needham was a Fort Lewis-based Army Reservist who twice volunteered for deployment to help train Iraqi police and special forces.

He was assigned to the Army's 1st Battalion, 356th Regiment, 4th Brigade, 91st Division. Needham initially felt a strong sense of duty to serve in Iraq. Once there, he developed a strong bond with Iraqis that he met, which made him want to return, according to family and friends.

Five other soldiers with Northwest ties died in September

Sgt. 1st Class Richard J. Henkes II, 32, of Portland; died Sept. 3 of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. He assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis.

Pfc. Hannah L. Gunterman, 20, of Redlands, Calif.; assigned to the 542nd Maintenance Company, 44th Corps Support Battalion, Fort Lewis; died Sept. 4 from a noncombat-related cause in Taji, Iraq.

Spc. David Ramsey, 27, of Tacoma, died Sept.7 of noncombat injuries, and was assigned to the 47th Combat Support of Hospital, 62nd Medical Brigade, Fort Lewis.

Sgt. Velton Locklear III, 29, who most recently lived in Lacey, died Sept. 23 of combat injuries. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Cpl. Casey Mellen, 21, a Fort Lewis soldier with the 3rd Brigade 2nd Infantry Division, died Sept. 25 of combat injuries.

"The people became the mission. I knew that part of him was left back there, and he had to go back," said Maj. Fred Miller, who served with Needham on both tours of duty and returned to Vancouver to speak at the funeral service at Living Hope Church.

Needham could be tough and always loved a good cigar, at home and in Iraq, but he was always ready to lend a helping hand.

During their second tour of duty, Needham befriended an Iraqi named "Sam," who lived next door to the base. A brigade commander wanted to move Sam and his family so that the house could be used as officers quarters. But Needham would have none of that, Miller said.

"He [Robb] was never happier than visiting in Sam's house, bouncing children on his knee, and passing that hookah pipe," Miller said.

Today, that commander is gone, but Sam is still in the house, Miller said.

Needham was born in Teaneck, N.J., on Oct. 26, 1954. His family moved to California in 1967, where he graduated from Castro Valley High and later joined the Army as an active-duty soldier, who continued to serve in the Army Reserve.

Needham's military job was a mechanical maintenance supervisor. But at Fort Lewis, he helped provide training for soldiers bound for Iraq. Then in 2004, he was one of 20 soldiers from his brigade to volunteer to join a military-assistance training team as an infantryman. This year, he was one of 25 volunteers to go to Iraq to help train police.

Needham's final weeks in Iraq were full of danger.

In an Aug. 4 e-mail to his church, he wrote "It has been a very stressful 2 days and nights for the team I'm with. Came under fire last night and sustained four civilian casualties."

At Friday's service, his daughter read an excerpt from his journal written shortly before he died, in which he described surviving the detonation of an improvised explosive device (IED).

Besides his daughter, Needham is survived by his wife, Catherine; his son, Dylan; and grandchildren Madelyn and Miles. Needham was buried Friday at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Needham is the sixth soldier with Washington ties serving in Iraq to die in September.

Hal Bernton: 206-464-2581 or hbernton@seattletimes.com