11/02/2006

Fallen soldier made Army his career

By CRAIG McCOOL

mccoolrecordeagle@sbcglobal.net

CHARLEVOIX — Army Major Douglas E. Sloan enlisted in the National Guard as a young man and later made the Army his career.

Charlevoix American Legion Post Commander Joe Seidel said Sloan, who was killed this week during a tour in Afghanistan, is the first Charlevoix military casualty since the Vietnam war.

"There are yellow ribbons and flags at half-mast all over town,” Seidel said. "He was very well-known. His family is well-known.”

Sloan's father, Emory Sloan, is retired from the Coast Guard and served for several years as the Charlevoix County Veterans Affairs administrator.

Douglas Sloan was a 1985 graduate of Charlevoix High School, where he was a member of the varsity basketball team. Upon graduating, Seidel said, Sloan enlisted in the National Guard and later in the Army Reserve Officers Training Corps.

It was not Sloan's first tour in Afghanistan.

"I believe this was at least his second or third time over there,” Seidel said.

Although a native of Charlevoix, Sloan no longer lived there. He and his wife lived near Fort Drum in upstate New York, Seidel said.

The American Legion has offered to provide a color guard at any services, though arrangements are not finalized, Seidel said, and it isn't known where Sloan is to be buried.

"It depends on the wishes of the family,” he said. "We are quite ready and willing to do any kind of color guard. We'll try to involve as much of the community as possible.”