Roush Fenway Racing will honor Sgt. William P. Rudd this weekend by placing a decal in honor of his memory on the #6 AAA Ford Fusion at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Additionally, Atlanta Motor Speedway has donated 200 tickets for members of Sgt. Rudd’s unit to attend Sunday’s Sprint Cup event. Sgt. Rudd died on October 5, 2008 while on combat patrol in Mosul, Iraq. This was the same raid in which U.S. soldiers killed the alleged #2 leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Qaswarah. Sgt. Rudd, originally from Madisonville, Ky., joined the Army on October 2, 2003 and was a member of the U.S. Army Rangers, an elite special operations troop. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Ft. Benning, Ga. and had previously been deployed twice to Afghanistan and five times to Iraq. His story was told to Jack Roush by Roush’s friend Don Bowles who also hails from Madisonville, Ky. Instantly, Roush knew he wanted to not only honor the fallen soldier, but celebrate the homecoming of his unit. In his five years of service, Sgt. Rudd was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Good Conduct Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. He is expected posthumously to receive the Purple Heart, Bronze Star Medal and Meritorious Service Medal.(Roush Fenway Racing PR)(10-25-2008)
