Army 1st Lt. Leevi K. Barnard

Remember Our Heroes

Army 1st Lt. Leevi K. Barnard 28, of Mount Airy, N.C.

1st Lt. Barnard was assigned to the 252nd Combined Arms Battalion, Fayetteville, N.C.; died May 21, 2009 near Baghdad of wounds sustained from an improvised explosive device. Also killed were Maj. Jason E. George and Sgt. Paul F. Brooks.

Lt. Barnard Returns to his home in Ararat, VA

5/29/09 - May 29-Public is encouraged to line the streets to honor 1st Lt. Leevi Barnard as his body is returned home today. Planned processional route is approximately 10:30am. Folowing U. S. Route 51 North from Winston-Salem onto Rockford Street (U. S. 601) and

The public has been invited to line the streets along the procession route to honor fallen Ararat, Va., soldier, 1st Lt. Leevi Khole Barnard, as his body is returned home.

North Carolina National Guard soldier Barnard was killed in Baghdad, Iraq, May 21. His body will arrive in North Carolina this morning and a procession will escort Barnard to Moody Funeral Home this morning.

Those wishing to honor Barnard should plan to be along the planned processional route by 10:30 a.m. in order to pay respects as the hearse makes its way to the funeral home. The route will bring Barnard to Surry County from Winston-Salem on U.S. 52 North, turn right onto Rockford Street/U.S. 601, and then left onto Grave Street to the funeral home.

Escorting the procession from the Piedmont Triad International Airport in Greensboro to Mount Airy today will be the Patriot Guard Riders motorcycle association. The riders will also escort Barnard’s casket from Moody Funeral Home around 2 p.m. Saturday to Blue Ridge Elementary School in Ararat, Va., where the public memorial service and visitation will be held that evening, as well as the funeral service on Sunday.

Visitation for 1st Lt. Leevi Barnard is scheduled at Blue Ridge Elementary School, 5135 Ararat Highway, Ararat, Va., from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, and his funeral will be Sunday at 2 p.m. at the school.

Barnard joined the North Carolina Army National Guard in August 2004 as a Multiple Launch Rocket System Crew member. He graduated as a Distinguished Military graduate with a GPA of 99 percent from his Advanced Individual Training Class at Fort Sill, Okla., and took his first assignment at B Battery, 5th Battalion 113th Field Artillery Regiment. He later transferred to Detachment 1, A Battery 113th Field Artillery Regiment 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team.

A 1998 graduate of Patrick County High School, Barnard earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and then received his commission as an officer in the Field Artillery through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corp (ROTC) at the university. After serving in A Battery 1st Battalion 113th Field Artillery Regiment, he transferred to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company 252nd Combined Arms Battalion in Fayetteville of the 30th HBCT where he was assigned at the time of his deployment. This was his first deployment.
Source: Mt. Airy News May 29,2009.

Martinsville Bulletin -- First Lt. Leevi Khole Barnard, 28, of Ararat in Patrick County, has been killed in action while serving on his third tour of duty in Iraq, according to his grandfather, Thomas L. Barnard of Ararat.

Barnard said the family was notified of the death at midnight Thursday. He said they have few details of the incident, except that there were eight servicemen involved and three were killed. He was not sure when or where the incident occurred.

Barnard was the son of Pamela Jane Barnard Payne of Patrick County, the daughter of Thomas Barnard and his wife, Daisy Barnard.

First Lt. Barnard went to Blue Ridge Elementary School and graduated from Patrick County High School in 1998, according to a release from Patrick County School Superintendent Roger Morris.

Thomas Barnard said his grandson was in JROTC in high school and then worked and also went to school after he graduated. He had been in the military for several years, Barnard said.

He added that he did not know when his grandson’s remains would be returned to the United States.

“It is difficult to imagine the loss to our community, particularly at a time of remembering our fallen soldiers,” Morris wrote Friday.

Morris has ordered that the flags at all Patrick County schools be lowered to half-staff until Barnard’s burial. He also requested that a moment of silence in the schools on Tuesday be dedicated in Barnard’s memory.

Army 1st Lt. Leevi K. Barnard was killed in action on 5/21/09.