Army officer was a best man in all senses

By John Rutherford, Producer, NBC News, Washington

WASHINGTON – Army Maj. Alan Rogers had no family of his own, so his friends became his family, and scores of them turned out Friday to say good-bye to him.

Rogers was killed Jan. 27 by a roadside bomb in Baghdad. He was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery.

An Army band led the procession down Bradley Road to Rogers' gravesite, followed by a horse-drawn caisson and all of those friends – civilian and military, young and old, black and white.

Courtesy U.S. Army

Army Maj. Alan Rogers was killed by a roadside bomb on Jan. 27 in Baghdad.

"Today we lay to rest Maj. Alan Greg Rogers, a man of great courage," an Army chaplain told the mourners. "Whenever he was needed, he was there."

Rogers was remembered for his love of cookouts and entertaining friends.

"Alan was such a sweet, kind, loving person," a friend wrote in the online guest book. "He brought everyone together to have a good time."

An only child of elderly parents, Rogers was often called home to Hampton, Fla., for medical emergencies.

"A mother couldn't have asked for a better son," a former neighbor told the Gainesville Sun. "Anytime they called, he would get here if he could."

The 40-year-old Rogers graduated from the University of Florida and had a graduate degree in public policy from Georgetown University. He was a career Army officer and an ordained minister.

"We have lost a special person in Alan," a fellow Army officer wrote in guest book.

His parents passed away and he was divorced with no children. But he had his friends, one of whom he contacted just hours before his death.

"He just said he missed us," the friend told the television station WUSA, "and he couldn't wait to come home." 

Rogers was due home this month, to be best man at a friend's wedding.

Washington Producer John Rutherford is a decorated Vietnam veteran. He also posts stories on the military at www.dailynightly.msnbc.com (click on "John Rutherford" under "categories") and at http://john-rutherford.newsvine.com/. A tribute gallery to U.S. service members killed in Iraq and Afghanistan can be found at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22802019/.