Funeral services for a United States Army captain will be held this weekend in his hometown of Brunswick.

David C. Haas, 29, who had completed two tours of duty in Iraq, died July 28 after being hit by a city bus in Seoul, South Korea, where he had been deployed since 2011.

“It seems so senseless to us,” Haas’ father, Joe Haas of Brunswick, said of the manner in which his son was killed. “It is just very upsetting to know he went all that time in Iraq and not a scratch. It’s beyond belief.”

The community is invited to visiting hours, which will be held Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m. at Brunswick High School.

That will be followed by a Mass of Christian Burial Monday morning at 9:30 at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church on McKeen Street in Brunswick.

Haas will be buried later that day with full military honors at the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Augusta.

Col. Andrew C. Mutter, a spokesman for the Eighth Army Public Affairs Office in Korea, said Haas died July 28 as a result of injuries he sustained in a pedestrian-vehicle accident.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Capt. Haas during their time of loss,” Mutter said in a statement issued Thursday night. “This tragic loss affects the entire Army family and we lost a great soldier.”

According to an article in by Stars and Stripes, a newspaper that covers the military, Haas and a male friend visiting from the Japan were crossing a road around 11:45 p.m. in Gangham near Kyobo Tower when a bus travelling about 30 miles per hour hit Haas.

Seoul police told the newspaper that the bus driver is being investigated for “professional negligence.”

Haas’ father said his son attended Brunswick schools, graduating from Brunswick High School in 2001; he served as president of his senior class.

Haas won an ROTC scholarship that allowed him to attend the University of Richmond in Virginia. After graduating in 2005 with a degree in history, he embarked on a military career that would see him serve two tours of duty in Iraq.

Haas was deployed to Daegu, South Korea, in November 2011. He was assigned to the 403rd Army Field Support Battalion. Haas was due to return home in November.

In 2009, a Seoul city bus struck and killed Lt. Col. David F. Frankenhauser of Lake County, Ind. Frankenhauser, 54, was three weeks shy of retirement.

Mutter said the Army is investigating Haas’ death.

 

Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:

dhoey@pressherald.com