<p>
I met Dave during my Plebe year at West Point, when we were both struggling to make our way on the Army Distance Running Team. Hailing from Houston, Dave graduated from Westfield High School, where he was an honor student and a star distance runner. He liked NASCAR, country music, fishing, big trucks, mountain biking, and playing his guitar. I’m indifferent about fishing, I don’t understand big trucks and I hate NASCAR, but we became good friends. In my sophomore year I chose civil engineer­ing as my major, after Dave convinced me it was the way to go. Over the course of four years, we were inseparable, studying, working on engineering projects, running after school, going to church, competing in races, going out on weekends. We could have only spent more time together if we had been roommates.</p>
<p>
Even as a freshman at West Point, Dave was his own man, secure in his Christian faith. He stood up for what he believed in, refusing to be cowed by the majority. In all the time I knew him, I don’t think I ever heard him curse. Committed to excellence in all areas of his life, Dave gave everything he had to everything he did, and everyone who knew him would say the same.</p>
<p>
I worked with Dave on every civil engineer­ing project that West Point threw at us, and we spent countless late nights pouring over texts and problems. His keen mind for engineering and unfailing work ethic saw many of our proj­ects through to completion. Engineering never came easy to me, but Dave was always there to help, patiently explaining the difficult concepts. Students in the CE department knew Dave was the “go-to guy,” willing to take the time to help them through the hard parts.</p>
<p>
On the track and cross country course, Dave was a fierce competitor, excelling in the metric mile, where he posted times in the 4:10s. Running early in the mornings and every after­noon, despite a grueling academic schedule, Dave was a role model for the younger athletes on the team and was always available to help.</p>
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On Sunday morning when other cadets were sleeping in, Dave was up early, sharing God’s love with the preschoolers in his Sunday school class. He was always busy, always work­ing, and always calm. He made it look easy, and he didn’t sweat the small stuff. He worked closely with God’s Gang and was the Cadet in Charge of Sunday School, a huge honor.</p>
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West Point’s civil engineering department recognized his qualities, selecting him out of all of the 2004 CE graduates for a guaranteed ap­pointment as an instructor in four to five years’ time, should he want it. The department of­fered him this honor because he represented the whole person that West Point wants its gradu­ates to be, and he would have shaped cadets into outstanding young officers.</p>
<p>
Dave enriched the lives of those around him, and I cannot imagine my time at West Point without him. I would not trade those four hard years we supported each other for anything.</p>
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In our senior year at West Point, Dave got it in his mind to undertake a truly ambitious project; build a bridge and landscape an area next to the West Point Youth Activities Center. Although I was initially skeptical, Dave con­vinced me (like always) that we would be fools to pass this opportunity up. This bridge would be our legacy, our gift.</p>
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Over the course of the year, we worked on the bridge, and, in truth, Dave did all the heavy lifting. He designed a beautiful timber bridge, negotiated with post agencies and contractors, and managed the volunteers who helped us. We unveiled the bridge dur­ing graduation week and were both com­missioned as officers on it. Today, the bridge stands as a testament to his spirit of service and commitment to excellence.</p>
<p>
Dave was a soldier, and an outstanding one. As a cadet, he attended the Army’s Air Assault School at Ft. Campbell, KY, where he set an Army record on the 14-mile Ruck march (Dave ran with his 40-pound pack the whole way, finishing in one hour, 45 minutes) and was the distinguished honor graduate for his class. After graduating from West Point, Dave was commissioned into the Corps of Engineers going from West Point to the Engineer Officer Basic Course, and then on to Airborne School and Ranger School.</p>
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After Ranger School, Dave posted to Ft. Hood, where he served as a platoon leader with the 4th Infantry Division. He deployed to Iraq in December 2005, serving with the 4th ID in Baghdad as a personal security detachment commander for VIPs and as platoon leader for a Route Clearance Package, hunting the roads for roadside bombs to keep his fellow soldiers safe. Dave sent e-mails to his friends and fam­ily regularly. He was a leader committed to his mission and soldiers, a man who took time on his two weeks of leave from the war zone to visit his soldiers who had been wounded in action.</p>
<p>
<em>David Michael Fraser</em> was killed in action when a roadside bomb struck his vehicle as he was returning from his last mission. He had less than a week left in Iraq. Dave was 25 years old when he died, but he accomplished more in his short time on earth than most people will in a lifetime. He was the kind of guy parents would want their daughters to meet, and the kind of guy daughters would want to meet as well. He was a man of faith who showed God’s love, an example of those of us fortunate to know him. He was a leader in everything he did, always there to help those around him. Dave was my best friend.</p>
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<em>—Seth Chappell ’04</em></p>
<p>
CPT Chappell returned from Afghanistan and is currently posted at Ft. Bragg, NC.</p>
<p>
CPT Fraser is survived by his parents, Richard and Helen Fraser of Houston, TX; brother Patrick and sister-in-law April of Austin, TX; grandmother Nona Fraser; aunts and un­cles Cathy and Tom Jones of Casper, WY, and Richard and Francis Bakken of San Antonio, TX; and cousins Katie Jones of Flagstaff, AZ, Stacey Farrias of San Antonio, TX, and John Bakken of North Carolina.</p>