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Dad mourns the young man he inspired

Apr-24-2004 » Filed Under: 3/2 SBCT

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BY KATIE WANG , Star-Ledger Staff

They shared everything, father and son.

They shared the same name, Frank Kevin Rivers.

They shared dreams, advice and words of inspiration. They often leaned on each other through rocky times, such as the death of younger Frank's mother a decade ago.

The son wanted to just be like his father, a soldier in the U.S. Army. So Frank K. Rivers Jr. joined the Army after graduating from high school in 1999.

But the 23-year-old who grew up in Newark died April 14 in Mosul, Iraq, after collapsing during military training. His death remains under investigation by the Army. Spc. Rivers was sent to Iraq in November as a member of the 334th Signal Co., a part of the 2nd Infantry Division's Stryker Brigade Combat Team.

Yesterday, Frank K. Rivers Sr. said good-bye to his son in a somber funeral service at Trinity Temple Seventh Day Adventists Church in Newark.


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