Army Capt. John Tinsley

Remember Our Heroes

Army Capt. John Tinsley, 28, of Tallahassee, Fla.

Capt. Tinsley was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, N.C.; died Aug. 12, 2009 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.

La. soldier killed by roadside bomb in Afghanistan
The Associated Press

HOUMA, La. — An Army Green Beret killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan was from Houma.

Capt. John Tinsley, 28, died Aug. 12 in Oruzgan province in central Afghanistan, after a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle, according to an Army spokesman.

Tinsley, a graduate of Vandebilt High School and Florida State University, was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, commonly called the Green Berets, based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

A former teacher and classmate recalled him as a quiet, considerate and confident student committed to others.

“He was one of my model students, that’s why I remember him so well,” said Margie Duplantis, who taught Tinsley religion his senior year and worked with him in the campus ministry. “One that had a heart of gold.”

Duplantis, who teaches 130 students a year, said Tinsley stood out.

“He always went against the flow,” said Duplantis, who has taught at Vandebilt for 20 years. “He didn’t follow his peers. He always did what he felt was morally right. If someone was doing something wrong and they wanted him to be a part of it, he wouldn’t be a part of it. Even if it meant him standing up alone.”

Duplantis said Tinsley took charge of his class Christmas project, raising money for needy families.

“If he could do anything to help anyone out, he did,” she said. “He challenged his friends to be better.”

Rodney Burns Jr., 28, a Houma building contractor, graduated from Vandebilt with Tinsley.

“He was a good kid, and from what I was told, he became a great man,” Burns said.

Burns said Tinsley left behind a wife and young daughter.

“I always thought there’d be a time when I’d get to talk to him again,” he said.

Army Capt. John Tinsley was killed in action on 8/12/09.