Army Sgt. James K. Healy

Remember Our Heroes

Army Sgt. James K. Healy, 25, of Hesperia, Calif.

Sgt. Healy was assigned to the 703rd Explosive Ordnance Detachment, Fort Knox, Ky.; died Jan. 7, 2008 at Jalalabad Airfield, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Maj. Michael L. Green.

Devoted soldier gives all
By JOSHUA COFFMAN
Thursday, January 10, 2008 9:00 PM CST

Friend recalls Sgt. Healy’s loyalty to family, country and interest in ‘Star Wars’

FORT KNOX — Praised as a devoted soldier, friends also remember Sgt. James K. Healy as a “Star Wars” enthusiast who loved to draw.
The 25-year-old Fort Knox soldier died Monday in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was riding in struck a roadside bomb. Sgt. Gregory Boyett met Healy in explosive ordnance school and they served together in the 703rd Explosive Ordnance Detachment at Fort Knox.

“He was a great soldier, dedicated, loyal,” Boyett said.

Healy was one class ahead of Boyett and finished the eight-month training course a week before Boyett did.

Boyett serves the unit at Fort Knox as a liaison, relaying messages between his colleagues overseas and their families back home.

He described Healy, a resident of Hesperia, Calif., as a Star Wars fanatic who was nimble with a pen. Healy designed a T-shirt for his company, as well as the company coin.

“He loved to draw,” Boyett said.

Boyett described his fallen friend as a fun-loving guy and family man. Healy leaves a wife, Shannon, and a 13-month-old son.

Healy and Maj. Michael L. Green, 36, of Chagrin Falls, Ohio, ran over an improvised explosive device in Laghar Juy while en route to terminate an IED, according to Ryan Brus, a spokesman at Fort Knox.

Green served with Headquarters, V Corps, in Heidelberg, Germany.

The Department of Defense said in a statement that Healy died at Jalalabad Airfield. Green died in Laghar Juy, located in the central section of Afghanistan and south of Jalalabad.

Brus said the local Army family mourns its latest loss.

“Fort Knox is sad one of our own has died,” he said. “Thoughts definitely go out to his family.”

Healy and his wife graduated from Hesperia High School in 2000, the Victorville (Calif.) Daily Press reported. The newspaper said two of his classmates also have died serving overseas.

Healy arrived at Fort Knox after EOD training in March 2005 and reenlisted while in Afghanistan.

His hometown of Hesperia is about 50 miles northeast of Los Angeles near San Bernardino, Calif.

Brus said the entire 703rd unit, consisting of 24 members, deployed to Afghanistan in August. The unit, which locates, recovers and dismantles IEDs, expects to return home within the next year.

Army Sgt. James K. Healy was killed in action on 1/7/08.