Oklahoma City soldier sought help for friend
Crime: Parents mourn death of son
Sheila Stogsdill, State Correspondent
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Published: July 9, 2009
An Oklahoma City soldier who was fatally shot in Tennessee was trying to rescue a friend from a gang-infested neighborhood and show her a better way of life, his family said on Wednesday.
U.S. Army Spc. Brandon Buettner, 24, who was stationed in Fort Campbell, Ky., died Saturday. He and another soldier had gone to the Clarksville, Tenn., neighborhood to pick up his girlfriend and watch fireworks, said Steven Buettner and Denise Buettner, his parents. Before the two soldiers got to the woman’s apartment, they got into a verbal confrontation with a neighborhood crowd, said Denise Buettner. The confrontation escalated and a group member pulled a gun, she said. "They did not like him picking up the girl,” said Steven Buettner. After the soldiers saw the gun, they got back into their truck and were leaving when the group fired three shots, he said. Denise Buettner said her son was shot in the back. He died at Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville. "My son had gotten an apartment and was trying to move her away so she could have a better life,” Denise Buettner said. "The police told me I could take pride in that.” James Knoll, Clarksville police spokesman, said the shooting is under investigation and no arrests have been made. Buettner was with the 101st Airborne Division. He had returned from a yearlong tour in Afghanistan in March. "Brandon needed some direction,” said Denise Buettner. "He wanted a college education but not student loans.” He grew up in the Oklahoma City area and loved it so much he had "405 OKC” tattooed on his right arm, his mother said. Buettner joined the Army in October 2006. He was a power generation equipment repairerman assigned to Headquarters Company, 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Shekinah Church in Oklahoma City with burial in Rest-haven Memory Gardens under the direction of Resthaven Funeral Home.
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