The Iowa House paid tribute to the Iowa soldier who was killed in Afghanistan earlier this week. Representative Gary Worthan of Storm Lake spoke today in the Iowa House.
“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce this morning that Iowa has lost one of its finest,” Worthan said shortly after nine o’clock when the House began its day. “Two days ago in Afghanistan Captain Daniel Whitten was killed by an I.E.D.” Twenty-eight-year-old Army Captain Daniel Whitten died Tuesday.
The Defense Department says Whitten and another soldier were in a vehicle that was hit by an improvised explosive device. Whitten was a 1999 graduate of Johnston High School. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2004. One of Representative Worthan’s sons, who is in the military, was a classmate of Whitten.
“So I would ask that the (House) observe a moment of silence for Captain Whitten and his family,” Whitten, who called Grimes home, is survived by his wife, Star, and his parents, Dan and Jill Whitten. Whitten had previously served a four-month deployment in Iraq and a 15-month deployment in Afghanistan. He was awarded the Bronze Star after a previous tour of duty overseas.
State senators also held a moment of silence to honor Whitten.