For Many in Iraq, Death Is Quick and Capricious

Platoon Sergeant's Fate Turned on Factors He Could Not Calculate

By Steve Fainaru
Washington Post Foreign Service
Monday, November 7, 2005; Page A01

KIRKUK, Iraq -- His men called him "Big Daddy," and, for many of them, Sgt. 1st Class Robbie D. McNary was larger than life.

He stood more than six feet tall and weighed 240 pounds, with a thunderous laugh that filled up a room. His 22-year-old Humvee driver, Spec. Trent White, said McNary possessed "bear paws for hands" and "a heart the size of the world."