Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski

Captain

Jeffrey P. Toczylowski,

30, an Army

Special Forces Officer

died Nov. 3

from injuries suffered

during a

Combat Mission in Iraq.

Jeff Toczylowski is survived by his parents, Philip and Margret Toczylowski, of Upper Moreland, PA.

An Army Special Forces Officer that joined the 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) in May 2003. died Nov. 3 from injuries suffered during a combat mission in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.

Capt. Jeffrey P. Toczylowski, 30, a Special Forces Detachment Commander assigned to 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Panzer Kaserne, Germany, was deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He was seriously injured as a result of a fall from a helicopter during a combat infiltration, he was airlifted to a military treatment facility where he was pronounced dead.

A native of Upper Moreland, Pa., Toczylowski was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1995 through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Valley Forge Military College in Valley Forge, Pa.

In 1997, Toczylowski was assigned as a platoon leader with the 554th Military Police Company in Stuttgart, according to a biography issued by the 10th Special Forces Group headquarters in Fort Carson, Colo. He deployed with the company to Bosnia in support of Task Force Eagle.

In 2000, Toczylowski began a nearly three-year stint as a force protection officer at Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart. He attended the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2003 and assigned to the 10th SFG (A).

The Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab.

Airborne Course, Special Forces Qualification Course, Infantry Officer Advanced Course, and the Military Police Officer Course.

In a remarkable e-mail written just prior to his death in Iraq late last week, a career soldier raised in Montgomery County told his family he would have no regrets if he lost his life in battle.

Philip Toczylowski said his son had been in Iraq only 17 days when he was killed. The younger man had recently lost a buddy on June 27, Master Sgt. Christopher Keith, 40, the Detachment’s Team Sergeant, died from an apparent heart attack during a training run near Panzer Kaserne.. The loss made Toczylowski aware of his own mortality and prompted his son to write an e-mail for friends and family in the event of his death.

"It was an honor to serve my country, and I wouldn't change a thing. It was just my time," "be happy for the time we had - not the future we won't." "don't be sad for me." he wrote.

He left instructions for a party in Las Vegas and said "$100 K" would be available to pay for travel and accommodations.

In the message, Toczylowski adamantly defended the military aims of this country in Iraq.

"Don't ever think that you are defending me by slamming the global war on terrorism or the U.S. goals in that war," he wrote. "As far as I am concerned, we can send guys like me to go after them, or we can wait for them to come back to us again.

"I died doing something I believed in and have no regrets, except that I couldn't do more."

Funeral service will be Friday at Valley Forge Military Academy and College, and burial Monday at Arlington National Cemetery.

Virginia Frantz, director of alumni relations at Valley Forge, said Toczylowski was commissioned in 1995 as a second lieutenant through the academy's Reserve Officer Training Corps.

Frantz said he was vice president of his class.

"He was an all-round good cadet, and a very nice young man, and we are devastated by his loss," Frantz said.

Toczylowski earned a bachelor's degree in criminal justice from Texas A&M University, Corpus Christi, in 1997.

That same year, he took his first assignment, leading a platoon with the 554th Military Police Company in Vaihingen, Germany. He deployed to Bosnia and elsewhere.

He served three years as a force protection officer at Special Operations Command Europe in Stuttgart, Germany. After that, he trained with the Army's Special Forces, and was serving in that capacity when he was killed.

Since he went to Texas, Toczylowski had hardly been home, but he was always a presence, said lifelong friend Tom Schneider. An infectious laugh and a genuine interest in others made him an instant hit wherever he went.

"Anything that was challenging he wanted to do - then he'd move on to the next challenge," said Schneider, who remembered his friend passing up the good time of senior week in high school to attend a special camp to help him get into Valley Forge Military Academy. "That's how he started his career, and that's how he ended his career - putting himself out for the next challenge."