Army Specialist Jerry R. King

Remember Our Heroes

Army Specialist Jerry R. King, 19, of Browersville, Ga.

Spc. King was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 23, 2007 in Sadah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his location. Also killed were Sgt. Michael L. Vaughan, Sgt. Brice A. Pearson, Sgt. Randell T. Marshall, 1st Lt. Kevin J. Gaspers, Staff Sgt. Kenneth E. Locker Jr., Staff Sgt. William C. Moore, Spc. Michael J. Rodriguez and Pfc. Garrett C. Knoll.

Trent Roling said that when he heard of Jerry R. King's death, he realized he'd lost "the friend of a lifetime."

"We were like brothers," Roling said. "I grew up with him — playing baseball, hunting, fishing and just hanging out. A friend like that only comes around once in a lifetime. I just feel lucky I knew him."

King, 19, of Browersville, Ga., was killed April 23, 2007 in a suicide car bombing in As Sadah.

He was a 2005 high school graduate and was assigned to Fort Bragg.

Evan Beasley, a classmate, said he remembers that King was a strong, protective person who went out of his way to help people.

"He was always singing that song, 'Don't Worry Be Happy,'" Beasley said. "That song embodies how he lived his life."

"He always told you the truth. It didn't matter if it was going to get him in trouble," said baseball coach Derrick Davis.

"He'd say, 'I did it.' Even if 10 other kids had done it and wouldn't say so."

He is survived by his father, Jerry King, and mother, Carmen Jordan.

"He was an extraordinary young man," said Beasley's father, John Beasley, a social studies teacher.

Army Specialist Jerry R. King was killed in action on 4/23/07.