Army Pvt. Barry W. Mayo

Remember Our Heroes

Army Pvt. Barry W. Mayo, 21, Ecru, Miss.

Pvt. Mayo was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas. Died March 5, 2007 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed in the explosion were Spc. Blake Harris, 22, of Pueblo, Colo., and Spc. Ryan D. Russell, 20, of Elm City, N.C.

Explosion in Iraq kills 2nd soldier from Ecru
From staff and wire reports

ECRU — North Pontotoc educators and residents of this tiny town are grieving the death in Iraq of a second soldier from their community.

Pvt. Barry W. Mayo, 21, died Monday in Baqubah with two other soldiers when an explosive device detonated near their unit. Mayo's unit was based at Fort Hood, Texas.

He first went over to Iraq after he turned 18, said Patricia Mayo, the soldier's grandmother.

"He had come back home and had been back for two weeks before he went back on Feb. 20, his 21st birthday," she said.

Flags are flying at half-staff around the town of about 1,000 residents in north Mississippi.

"This is the second student we lost,'' said assistant football coach Steve Brown. "You try to recall the memories of them."

Marine Cpl. Clifton B. Mounce, 22, was killed in Iraq in July 2005.

"To get two in less than two years, you can hardly dream of it," Ecru Mayor Tom Todd said.

Mayo's family was notified of his death Monday.

Becky Mayo of Ecru, the soldier's stepmother, told The Associated Press that an Army representative came to their home Monday and "all he told us was that Barry had been killed in the line of duty."

Family members said Mayo's mother, Kimberly Yarbrough, and her husband live in Texas. His brother, Andy Lee Mayo, is a Myrtle resident.

Becky Mayo said military officials told the family that her stepson's body would be flown to Dover Air Force Base, Del., today "and they would be getting him ready for a military funeral."

Army Pvt. Barry W. Mayo was killed in action on 03/05/07.