Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey L. Hartley

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey L. Hartley, 25, of Hempstead, Texas

SSgt. Hartley was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died April 8, 2008 in Kharguliah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Houston Chronicle -- On Tuesday, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley, 25, of Hempstead, was killed when an improvised bomb exploded near his vehicle in Iraq. He was on his fifth tour of duty.

Thursday in Hempstead, the Waller County seat about 50 miles northwest of Houston, flags flew at half-staff at City Hall and the Police Department, where Hartley's father, Lt. David Hartley, has worked for 16 years.

Students at Hempstead High School, Hartley's alma mater, spoke about the fallen soldier in hushed tones.

"He truly loved being in the military," said Hempstead police Detective Jason Martinez, a family friend. "He was very passionate about it."

Martinez said Hartley had been in the Army for six years and had made the Army his career.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga.

His brother, David Hartley, also served in Iraq and recently left the military, Martinez said.

Martinez said the elder Hartley often speaks about his two sons with admiration and respect.

"He's always talking about how proud he is of both of them," he said.

Jeffery Hartley graduated from Hempstead High School in 2001. He played on the football team and was a member of the power-lifting squad, said Gail Schroeder, his 12th-grade English teacher.

Schroeder said he was a good student who made A's and B's and was popular and respectful.

"He was one of those kids who was at home with the athletes and scholars," she said.

Hartley's classmates have graduated by now, she said, but his death was the talk of the campus Thursday. She said as far as she knew, he was the first soldier from the community to die in Iraq.

"Even though they didn't know him," she said, "the students were sad to lose one of their own."

Army Staff Sgt. Jeffrey L. Hartley was killed in action on 4/8/08.