Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland, 27, of Douglasville, Georgia.
Sgt Strickland died in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq, when his HMMWV accidentally rolled over into a canal. He was assigned to the Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 108th Armor Regiment, Calhoun, Georgia.
Strickland was a project manager at Son Electrical Contractors in Winston. He had been in the Guard for six years. He graduated from Alexander High School, where he was president of the drafting club, and later earned a bachelor’s degree in English from University of West Georgia.
Greg Stanford, a minister at Dorsett Shoals Baptist Church, remembered Strickland as a well-rounded, likable man who loved to meet people and enjoyed mission work including trips to Bosnia and the Philippines.
“He just loved to work with people who were just a little less fortunate than most of us are,” Stanford said. “I could have very easily seen Thomas in the ministry somewhere.”
Strickland’s parents, Patti and Ronnie, didn’t want to give interviews Tuesday. They released a statement saying their son saw his deployment to Iraq as an opportunity to fight terrorism. They asked people to pray for the troops in Iraq and their families.
August 26, 2005
The poet has checked out. Thomas Strickland died on August 15, 2005, in Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq, after several harrowing ordeals. He left behind his journal and numerous war poems, such as "Cheers to suicide! So Where's my Martini?" and "Terrer be a Cancer Today", parts one and two. Could he be the Wilfred Owen of the Iraq War?
"Humanity, I think, is what fills the little gaps between all the broken shit, all the breaking, and all the plans, schematics, graphics and orders. Its the sand slipping out of grasping fingers. Its our instinct without progress as a motivator. It's who we are when we concentrate on being more than doing." (http://rev-wayfarer.livejournal.com/)
Army Sgt. Thomas J. Strickland was killed in action on 08/15/05.
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