Airport working with family and DOD on homecoming for Army captain killed in Afghanistan | News

The Greater Rochester International Airport says it's working with the Pentagon and the family of Capt. Bruce Clark for his homecoming. Capt. Clark was killed in Afghanistan on Monday.

According to Capt. Clark's Facebook page, he moved to Spencerport in 1999 and received a degree from the College at Brockport in 2006.

He worked at Highland Hospital for four years in the early 2000s.

In memory Capt. Clark, the Spencerport Fire Department lowered its flags to half staff. Clark was a volunteer fire fighter here in the early 2000's. That's when he lived in Spencerport with his wife and mother in law.  

"Kevin is a very likeable guy and I can still picture him over here at his mother in law's house doing work around the house with the bushes and the yard and stuff like that," Kenneth Bell said.

Click here to watch video of Kenneth Bell talk about his former neighbor, Captain Clark. 

Bell lives across the road and remembers Clark well. He's thinking of Clark's wife and two children tonight.

"It's just hard to believe. Now he's got them two precious little girls there and they're going to grow up without a father and words just can't explain it and it's still pretty difficult," Bell said.

Captain Clark died in Afghanistan Monday. It was his first tour of duty in the country. He joined the Army six years ago after graduating with a nursing degree from the College at Brockport. Clark was a medic, which makes his death even more of a shock to his old friend.

"In his line of work and everything with the medic's and everything, it's just hard to believe," Bell said. "I never dreamed something like this would ever happen to him."

What's curious here is that the Army usually gives some details on how a soldier is killed. In this case, however, there's no information other than that the Army is investigating. The Army medical center in Texas called it an "unknown cause of death."

When Captain Clark's body is returned to Rochester the funeral mass will be at St. Mary's Church downtown.