Everett, Wash.
Published: Thursday, October 23, 2008

Army captain killed in Afghanistan had local ties

By Gale Fiege
Herald Writer

 EVERETT -- An Army officer who lived for a time on Camano Island and in Everett before being killed in Afghanistan this week left behind a wife and four children, the U.S. Department of Defense confirmed on Wednesday.

Capt. Robert D. Lindenau, 39, was a civil affairs officer assigned to 91st Civil Affairs Battalion, 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, N.C. He died Monday from wounds sustained when a rocket-propelled grenade struck his vehicle near Kabul, Afghanistan. Lindenau was serving as a civil affairs team leader.

His death was announced Tuesday.

Lindenau is survived by his wife, Tonya, and their children, Rachael, Gabe, Sarah and Hannah, all who now live at Fort Bragg. A family member answering the telephone there Tuesday said the Lindenau family was not ready to talk.

According to public records, Robert and Tonya Lindenau lived on Camano Island in the mid- to late-1990s and briefly in Everett in 1999 and 2000.

Neighbors in the couple's former East Drive neighborhood in south Everett said Tuesday night that they did not remember the family.

Lindenau was born Aug. 22, 1969, in Seattle. In the early 1990s, he attended the University of Idaho, where he graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in music and classical guitar performance.

Lindenau enlisted in the Army in July 1996 as a wheeled-vehicle mechanic. After serving in various positions in a direct support maintenance company, he attended the U.S. Army Officer Candidate School in 1999, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Field Artillery. His assignments included serving as a battery fire direction and executive officer and a battalion maintenance officer.

During the war in Iraq, he served as assistant operations officer, 1st Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment. Since joining civil affairs, he also served as a Civil-Military Support Element Team Leader in support of operations in Afghanistan with Fox Company, 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne).

Lindenau's awards and decorations include six Army Commendation Medals, four Army Achievement Medals, the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraqi Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, four Overseas Service Ribbons, the Combat Action Badge, Basic Parachutist Badge and Air Assault Badge.

More than 20 people with connections to Snohomish and Island counties have died in combat or training operations since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan started.

As of Tuesday, at least 548 members of the U.S. military have died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Associated Press.

Since the Iraq war began in March 2003, at least 4,186 members of the U.S. military have died there, according to an AP count. The figure includes eight military civilians killed in action.

Reporter Gale Fiege: 425-339-3427 or gfiege@heraldnet.com.
© 2009The Daily Herald Co., Everett, WA