An on-duty Wisconsin State Patrol trooper who served three tours of duty in the Middle East with the National Guard was killed early Tuesday when his vehicle struck a tree alongside Interstate 90/94 in Sauk County.

Anthony J. Borostowski was pronounced dead at the scene by the Sauk County coroner.

Borostowski was traveling south near Wisconsin Dells when his squad car entered a ditch, overturned and struck the tree about 4:30 a.m., according to the Sauk County Sheriff's Department.

Borostowski was in the same recruit class as Trevor Casper, a state trooper who was slain in Fond du Lac in March 2015 in a shootout with a bank robber who had murdered a bystander in Marinette County earlier in the day. The 60th Wisconsin State Patrol class of recruits graduated from the academy in December 2014 and were given their badges in a ceremony — Borostowski received Badge 2603 while Casper was given Badge 2605.

At Casper's funeral, the 48 surviving members of the recruit class, which included Borostowski, lined up in pairs and were the last to walk up to the casket to salute their fallen comrade.

Borostowski received the Wisconsin State Patrol's Lifesaving Award in 2015 for saving a man's life by performing CPR.

"Our hearts are heavy today as we mourn the loss of Anthony Borostowski who passed away early this morning in the line of duty," Gov. Scott Walker said in a statement. "Anthony was an outstanding trooper and staff sergeant in the Wisconsin National Guard."

The governor met Borostowski when he received the lifesaving award. Borostowski and another trooper responded to a 911 call of a man without a pulse at a New Lisbon home on Jan. 28, 2015. They were the first to arrive at the home and began performing CPR until a pulse was restored and he began breathing again.

Borostowski enlisted in the Wisconsin Army National Guard in May 2004 and had recently completed a drill sergeant's course at Fort Jackson, S.C. and was assigned as a drill sergeant in the Wisconsin Army National Guard's Recruiting and Retention Battalion.

A staff sergeant, Borostowski deployed as a combat medic to Kuwait with the 2nd Battalion, 128th Infantry in 2005, and in 2009, he deployed to Iraq as a trauma specialist with the 108th Forward Support Company. He deployed again in 2012 as a combat medic with the 1st Battalion, 121st Field Artillery to Afghanistan.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family of Staff Sgt. Anthony Borostowski," said Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar, the Wisconsin adjutant general. "He embodied the spirit of the citizen soldier as he served his state and nation with honor as a Wisconsin State Patrol trooper and a member of the Wisconsin Army National Guard. We join the rest of Wisconsin in mourning his loss."

His military awards include the Combat Action Badge, Army Commendation Medal, two Army Achievement Medals, Iraqi and Afghanistan Campaign Medals, the Humanitarian Service Medal and the Drill Sergeant's Badge, among other awards and decorations.

Borostowski is the seventh Wisconsin State Patrol trooper killed in the line of duty.

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