Hometown: Hampton, VA
Branch: U.S. Army 
Unit: 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Military Honors: Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal
Date of Sacrifice: September 9, 2010 - KIA in Kandahar, Afghanistan
Age: 26
Conflict: War in Afghanistan, 2001-2021

Todd Weaver proudly carried on his family’s legacy of military service. His older brother Glenn served in the Army during the Iraq War (2003-2011). His father, Donn, served in Korea’s Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) during the Vietnam War (1959-1975) and later in the Foreign Service. Both of his grandfathers served in World War II (1939-1945): William Harris in the Marine Corps and Robert Weaver in the Navy.

Todd was the youngest of four children born to Donn and Jeanne (Harris) Weaver in Fairfax, Virginia. Donn’s career as a Foreign Service officer gave the family an opportunity to experience the world. Because of multiple moves during his early childhood—followed by college studies abroad and military assignments—by the time Todd was age 26 he’d lived in five foreign countries, visited over 25 countries, and stepped foot on five continents.

Todd was a standout student-athlete at Bruton High School in Williamsburg, Virginia, playing quarterback for the football team and starring on the baseball team.

Before graduating high school in 2002, Weaver was moved to join Virginia’s Army National Guard after September 11, 2001, when radical Islamic terrorists attacked New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington D.C.

Following high school, Weaver completed Army Basic Training and Engineering Advanced Individual Training at Fort Leonard Wood in central Missouri. He enrolled at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. But his school studies were interrupted in September 2003 when his National Guard unit was activated to support Hurricane Isabel relief efforts.

A few months later, in March 2004, he was deployed to Mosul, Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After his 10-month combat tour, Weaver returned to the U.S. in February 2005 and transferred to the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. There he joined the Army Reserve Officer Training (ROTC) program and was appointed Cadet ROTC battalion commander during his senior year.

His years at William & Mary were eventful. He studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the city took on special meaning when he proposed to his girlfriend Emma Cloyed, who traveled there to visit him. The two later married and welcomed a daughter, Kiley.

Weaver completed Airborne Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, in August of 2007.

In May 2008, Weaver graduated summa cum laude from William & Mary with a bachelor’s degree in government. He was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army Infantry.

He’d return to Fort Benning in January through March 2009 to earn his Ranger tab. After a promotion to first lieutenant in November of that year, Weaver was assigned as platoon leader 1st Battalion, 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

He was deployed to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan with the 101st in May 2010 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Recognizing his leadership abilities, 1LT Weaver’s brigade commander reassigned him to the 1st Battalion’s 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team to lead an artillery platoon. The platoon was tasked with conducting operations in the Arghandab River Valley west of Kandahar.

On September 9, 2010, 1LT Weaver was lost when insurgents attacked his platoon with an improvised explosive device (IED). He was 26 years old.

Weaver’s daughter Kiley had just celebrated her first birthday.

1LT Todd William Weaver was laid to rest with his fellow soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington D.C. (Section 60, Site 9183).

Weaver was inducted into the Army ROTC Hall of Fame in 2021. At the College of William & Mary, a Todd W. Weaver Study Abroad Scholarship was established in his honor. According to William & Mary, the scholarship can be used “for an academic program or independent travel related to better understanding other cultures and nations.”

Sources
Details provided by Major General (retired) Leslie Purser and Ms. Jeanne Weaver, 1LT Weaver’s Gold Star Mother
Arlington National Cemetery: Todd W. Weaver – First Lieutenant, United States Army
U.S. Army: 1st Lt. Todd W. Weaver
Fox Sports Network: In Case of Emergency: Todd Weaver (Video)
Military Times—Honor the Fallen: Army 1st Lt. Todd W. Weaver
Washington Post, October 14, 2010: Todd W. Weaver, soldier killed in Afghanistan, was humble leader
Family website: In Memory of 1LT Todd William Weaver
Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia), September 11, 2010: Local soldier killed in Afghanistan
Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia), December 4, 2010: Wristbands pay tribute to soldier killed in Afghanistan
William & Mary: W&M mourns the loss of Todd Weaver '08
William & Mary: Todd W. Weaver Study Abroad Scholarship
Burial Site: Find a Grave