Captain Bruce Evan Hays ’96, USA

Bruce Evan Hays was born December 29, 1965 in Merced, California to Leonard and Barbara Louise Hays. He graduated from Capitan NM High School in 1984 and joined the U.S. Army. He served as an enlisted soldier as a tanker with the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment for eight years, including service in Desert Storm, then attended New Mexico State University. During his college years he was employed at the Army Research Lab at White Sands Missile Range. In 1996 he graduated with honors from NMSU with a degree in soil science. He was a surveyor with the USDA Soil Service and then was offered a commission in the Army National Guard. He was employed full-time with the Army National Guard of Wyoming until 2008 when he was called to active duty to serve on a military transition team assigned to the 1st Brigade, 1st Infantry Division. Captain Hays arrived in Afghanistan in August. As a member of a military transition team, his job was to prepare small teams of U.S. soldiers to advise, teach and mentor their Afghan counterparts. On September 17, 2008 he, and three other soldiers, died in Gerdia Seria of wounds sustained when his vehicle was blown up by an improvised explosive device. He was later cremated and his ashes disposed of by his family. Captain Bruce Evan Hays was 42 years of age at the time of his death in service to his nation and is survived by his wife and two daughters and parents of Alamogordo NM. Captain Hays is also remembered for his Chevrolet Apache pickup truck which he purchased for his wife prior to deployment. When unable to complete the renovation due to his death, the local community came together and insured the truck was restored and presented to his wife and daughters.