Army Staff Sgt. Justin R. Whiting

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Justin R. Whiting, 27, of Hancock, N.Y.

SSgt. Whiting was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Jan. 19, 2008 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle struck an improvised explosive device.

Special Forces Command -- Staff Sgt. Justin R. Whiting, 27, was killed in action on Jan. 19 when his vehicle was struck by an IED while conducting combat operations 16 Kilometers south of Mosul, Iraq. He was a Special Forces medical Sergeant assigned to Company B, 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne).

He has had two previous combat tours to Iraq in 2004 and 2005 with the 3rd Bn., 5th SFG (A), and was on his third combat tour in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the Global War on Terrorism.

Whiting was born in Texas and his military records list his hometown of record as Tenn. He volunteered for military service and enlisted in the Army on Dec. 15 1999. he would go on to earn the coveted Green Beret in 2000.

Whiting’s military education includes; the Special Operations Target Interdiction Course, the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course, Basic Noncommissioned Officer’s Course, Warrior Leaders Course, Basic Airborne Course, and Special Forces Qualification Course.

His awards and decorations include; the Bronze Star Medal, two Army Commendation Medals, two Army Achievement Medals, two Army Good Conduct Medals, National Defence Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, two Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbons, Army Service Ribbon, Combat Medical Badge, Parachutist Badge, and Special Forces Tab.

Whiting is survived by his mother, Estelline, of Colorado Springs, Colo., father, Randall, of Hancock, N.Y., sister, Amanda, of DuPont, Wash., and brother, Nathan, of Dover, Tenn.

Army Staff Sgt. Justin R. Whiting was killed in action on 1/19/08.