Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. David A. Stephens, 28, of Tullahoma, Tenn.
Sgt. Stephens was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 12 in Miri, Afghanistan, when his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device during combat operations. Also killed was Staff Sgt. Casey D. Combs.
Two paratroopers — one a Tullahoman — from the 82nd Airborne Division have died from a roadside bombing in Afghanistan, bringing the number from the division killed in a week to six.
Sgt. David Stephens, 28, of Tullahoma, and Staff Sgt. Casey Combs, 28, of Auburn, Wash., were wounded Thursday in the bombing near Miri, Afghanistan, the division said Saturday.
The 3,700 members of their task force observed a moment of silence to honor them.
Four other paratroopers from the Fort Bragg-based division died Sunday in Iraq following a bombing.
Stephens was a combat medic and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion of the 4th Brigade Combat Team. He joined the Army in March 2005, came to the 82nd in February 2006 and was a 2002 graduate of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in abnormal psychology.
"Sgt. Stephens was an inspiration to all the paratroopers of his unit," said 1st Lt. Dennis Curry, 2-508th Rear Detachment commander. "He always volunteered to help others."
Stephens is survived by his wife, Megan Stephens, and his 3-month-old daughter, Sienna Stephens, both of Spring Lake, N.C.; and his father Charles Stephens of Tullahoma, Tenn.
Megan Stephens said her husband was a Bob Dylan fan and took an iPod filled with Dillon songs on the deployment. He had been selected for officer candidate school but turned it down to train as a medic because his mother had died of a heart attack and he wanted to help people, she said.
Army Sgt. David A. Stephens was killed in action on 4/12/07.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles
Remember Our Heroes
Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles, 22, of LaPorte, Ind.
Cpl. Beadles was assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died April 12 in Baghdad of a non-combat-related injury. The incident is under investigation.
Herald Argus -- LA PORTE — It has been two days since U.S. Army Spc. Jason Beadles, 22, of La Porte died in Iraq, and his family is still awaiting details.
It is believed Beadles, a heavy equipment operator, died as a result of eloctrocution, although his family doesn’t know if that occurred in combat or by accident.
The Herald-Argus spoke with Beadles’s mother, Delona Beadles, this morning and the family has no new information about their son’s death, although she was anticipating a call from a U.S. Army representative sometime today.
On Thursday, there were people inside the boyhood home of Beadles who would have otherwise never had a reason to be there.
When the La Porte High School 2003 graduate died in Iraq from an apparent electrocution Thursday, Sgt. First Class Henry Cox of the Hobart Reserve Unit came to the Monroe Street home, along with Rev. Bill Fine, pastor of United Church of Christ in Michigan City.
Only one other time in 2005 has Cox had to visit the family of a dead soldier to help with the funeral arrangements and explain the financial benefits. It’s not something he looked forward to doing Thursday, but it’s a responsibility that comes with the vocation.
“On one hand it’s an honor to be able to talk with the family of a fallen soldier, but it’s tough because you don’t want to see them break down. You try and provide what comfort you can. It’s tough,” he said. “It can be rewarding after everything is done in explaining the benefits, but in spite of all the things they are getting it doesn’t replace the child.”
A family friend called Fine and asked him to come over to the home Thursday. It’s not something he thought twice about, especially considering the fact that Jason, 22, dated his daughter Rachel while in high school. Fine was present for the family through the early grieving process, sharing stories about Jason and revealing the importance of God at such a difficult time.
“God is in charge of all life and we need to be seeking God’s strength at this time. When our lives get out of control it’s the God of life we can turn to,” he said.
While Sue Knop didn’t visit the home of the Beadles, the La Porte High School guidance counselor spoke highly of Jason.
“He was a wonderful student, and what a caring person. He was real affable, enthusiastic. He was the kind of son who would make a mother proud and the kind of student who would make a teacher proud,” she said.
Hervey Parker, welding instructor at A.K. Smith Career Center, became familiar with Jason the student who later earned his entry-level welding certification. For two years, Jason was a student of Parker’s.
“He was always happy. He was always concerned about other people,” Parker said. “He would always say, ‘Good Morning.’”
While the funeral arrangements are not complete, it’s likely late next week or early the following that people will say good-bye to Jason at his funeral in La Porte.
Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles died in Baghdad, Iraq from non-combat related injuries on 4/12/07.
Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles, 22, of LaPorte, Ind.
Cpl. Beadles was assigned to the 887th Engineer Company, 326th Engineer Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died April 12 in Baghdad of a non-combat-related injury. The incident is under investigation.
Herald Argus -- LA PORTE — It has been two days since U.S. Army Spc. Jason Beadles, 22, of La Porte died in Iraq, and his family is still awaiting details.
It is believed Beadles, a heavy equipment operator, died as a result of eloctrocution, although his family doesn’t know if that occurred in combat or by accident.
The Herald-Argus spoke with Beadles’s mother, Delona Beadles, this morning and the family has no new information about their son’s death, although she was anticipating a call from a U.S. Army representative sometime today.
On Thursday, there were people inside the boyhood home of Beadles who would have otherwise never had a reason to be there.
When the La Porte High School 2003 graduate died in Iraq from an apparent electrocution Thursday, Sgt. First Class Henry Cox of the Hobart Reserve Unit came to the Monroe Street home, along with Rev. Bill Fine, pastor of United Church of Christ in Michigan City.
Only one other time in 2005 has Cox had to visit the family of a dead soldier to help with the funeral arrangements and explain the financial benefits. It’s not something he looked forward to doing Thursday, but it’s a responsibility that comes with the vocation.
“On one hand it’s an honor to be able to talk with the family of a fallen soldier, but it’s tough because you don’t want to see them break down. You try and provide what comfort you can. It’s tough,” he said. “It can be rewarding after everything is done in explaining the benefits, but in spite of all the things they are getting it doesn’t replace the child.”
A family friend called Fine and asked him to come over to the home Thursday. It’s not something he thought twice about, especially considering the fact that Jason, 22, dated his daughter Rachel while in high school. Fine was present for the family through the early grieving process, sharing stories about Jason and revealing the importance of God at such a difficult time.
“God is in charge of all life and we need to be seeking God’s strength at this time. When our lives get out of control it’s the God of life we can turn to,” he said.
While Sue Knop didn’t visit the home of the Beadles, the La Porte High School guidance counselor spoke highly of Jason.
“He was a wonderful student, and what a caring person. He was real affable, enthusiastic. He was the kind of son who would make a mother proud and the kind of student who would make a teacher proud,” she said.
Hervey Parker, welding instructor at A.K. Smith Career Center, became familiar with Jason the student who later earned his entry-level welding certification. For two years, Jason was a student of Parker’s.
“He was always happy. He was always concerned about other people,” Parker said. “He would always say, ‘Good Morning.’”
While the funeral arrangements are not complete, it’s likely late next week or early the following that people will say good-bye to Jason at his funeral in La Porte.
Army Cpl. Jason J. Beadles died in Baghdad, Iraq from non-combat related injuries on 4/12/07.
Monday, April 09, 2007
Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden
Remember Our Heroes
Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden, 20, of Claremont, N.C.
Pfc. Holden was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died April 9, 2007 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Spc. Ismael G. Solorio and Pvt. Brett A. Walton.
Outdoorsman, loving husband, new father lost
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
by CARY LEIDER VOGRIN
One was a sergeant who had survived a sniper attack and a roadside bomb in two combat tours in Iraq.
Another was a private was counting down the days to May, when he and his wife would go on the honeymoon trip they never had the chance to take.
The third was a Montana ranchhand who had bought a ranch but would never get to settle on it.
The three Fort Carson soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team died this week in combat in Iraq. It was unclear Thursday if they were killed in the same attack.
Sgt. Ismael Solorio, 21, of San Luis, Ariz., died Monday during his third Iraq deployment, said his older sister, Elvira Solorio. She did not know how he died, and the Department of Defense had not released details Thursday.
Pfc. Brian Lee Holden, 20, of Claremont, N.C., a gunner with the brigade's 17th Field Artillery Regiment, was killed by a roadside bomb, his family said.
Pfc. Kyle G. Bohrnsen, 22, of Philipsburg, Mont., of the brigade's 12th Infantry Regiment, died Tuesday after being wounded by a roadside bomb, the Pentagon reported.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Brian Holden's widow, Amanda Holden, 19, said Thursday from their North Carolina home. "It's really hard to be so young and have to go through this."
The couple had been married 13 months and had been saving money to buy a house, she said.
"He told me the other day he was ready to come home, buy a house, settle down and have kids," she said.
Planning honeymoon
Gene Delozier had been looking at hundreds of pictures of his stepson, Brian Lee Holden, who was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
"In every picture, he was smiling. Brian was so cheerful all the time," Delozier said.
"Brian was in our prayers a lot. We would pray for him every time they went out on a mission," he said.
The 20-year-old from Claremont, N.C., had been married for 13 months. Delozier said the couple was planning a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for a honeymoon they never took after they got married in March 2006.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Holden's widow, Amanda Holden, 19, told The Associated Press Thursday from their North Carolina home. "It's really hard to be so young and have to go through this."
Delozier said the couple spent plenty of time at Fort Carson together, where they both enjoyed the outdoors.
Born in Jacksonville, Fla., and raised in North Carolina, Holden graduated from Newton-Conover High School in 2005. He enlisted in the Army immediately after graduation.
Holden is survived by his parents, Bill Holden, of Cornelius, N.C., and Leasa Delozier, of Claremont, N.C.; stepparents Gene Delozier, of Claremont, and Helen Holden, of Cornelius; a brother, Billy Holden, of Mooresville, N.C.; paternal grandmother, Lilly Holden, of Jacksonville, Fla.; and maternal grandfather, Darrell Shrewsberry, of Conover, N.C.
Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden was killed in action on 4/9/07.
Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden, 20, of Claremont, N.C.
Pfc. Holden was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 17th Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died April 9, 2007 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed were Spc. Ismael G. Solorio and Pvt. Brett A. Walton.
Outdoorsman, loving husband, new father lost
Gazette, The (Colorado Springs),
by CARY LEIDER VOGRIN
One was a sergeant who had survived a sniper attack and a roadside bomb in two combat tours in Iraq.
Another was a private was counting down the days to May, when he and his wife would go on the honeymoon trip they never had the chance to take.
The third was a Montana ranchhand who had bought a ranch but would never get to settle on it.
The three Fort Carson soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team died this week in combat in Iraq. It was unclear Thursday if they were killed in the same attack.
Sgt. Ismael Solorio, 21, of San Luis, Ariz., died Monday during his third Iraq deployment, said his older sister, Elvira Solorio. She did not know how he died, and the Department of Defense had not released details Thursday.
Pfc. Brian Lee Holden, 20, of Claremont, N.C., a gunner with the brigade's 17th Field Artillery Regiment, was killed by a roadside bomb, his family said.
Pfc. Kyle G. Bohrnsen, 22, of Philipsburg, Mont., of the brigade's 12th Infantry Regiment, died Tuesday after being wounded by a roadside bomb, the Pentagon reported.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Brian Holden's widow, Amanda Holden, 19, said Thursday from their North Carolina home. "It's really hard to be so young and have to go through this."
The couple had been married 13 months and had been saving money to buy a house, she said.
"He told me the other day he was ready to come home, buy a house, settle down and have kids," she said.
Planning honeymoon
Gene Delozier had been looking at hundreds of pictures of his stepson, Brian Lee Holden, who was killed Monday by a roadside bomb in Baghdad.
"In every picture, he was smiling. Brian was so cheerful all the time," Delozier said.
"Brian was in our prayers a lot. We would pray for him every time they went out on a mission," he said.
The 20-year-old from Claremont, N.C., had been married for 13 months. Delozier said the couple was planning a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C. for a honeymoon they never took after they got married in March 2006.
"I'm not sure what I'm going to do," Holden's widow, Amanda Holden, 19, told The Associated Press Thursday from their North Carolina home. "It's really hard to be so young and have to go through this."
Delozier said the couple spent plenty of time at Fort Carson together, where they both enjoyed the outdoors.
Born in Jacksonville, Fla., and raised in North Carolina, Holden graduated from Newton-Conover High School in 2005. He enlisted in the Army immediately after graduation.
Holden is survived by his parents, Bill Holden, of Cornelius, N.C., and Leasa Delozier, of Claremont, N.C.; stepparents Gene Delozier, of Claremont, and Helen Holden, of Cornelius; a brother, Billy Holden, of Mooresville, N.C.; paternal grandmother, Lilly Holden, of Jacksonville, Fla.; and maternal grandfather, Darrell Shrewsberry, of Conover, N.C.
Army Pfc. Brian L. Holden was killed in action on 4/9/07.
Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III
Remember Our Heroes
Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M.
Spc. Spohn was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died April 9 in Karmah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked his location with indirect fire.
Albuquerque Tribune -- A 2004 Cibola High School graduate who joined the Army five months after receiving his diploma was killed at an Iraqi police station in Karmah.
Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, 21, a paratrooper assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska, was hit with indirect fire Monday while working at the Iraqi station with his unit, according to an Army news release.
Three other paratroopers were injured.
Spohn, who went by Adam, lived in Alaska with his wife, Amanda, and their daughter, a spokesman for the family said.
Spohn was assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
He joined the Army in October 2004.
Cibola Principal Grace Brown said Spohn was the eldest of four Spohn children to attend the West Side school.
Two sisters currently attend Cibola, and a brother graduated last year.
Brown remembered Spohn was active in music and drama, and characterized his family as "very strong spiritually," said Rigo Chavez, spokesman for Albuquerque Public Schools.
Chavez said Brown spoke with Spohn's parents after learning of his death.
"They are very proud of him, she said. He died doing something he believed in," Chavez said.
Spohn's parents are Clifford and Sandy Spohn, said the family spokesman, Dever Langholf.
Langholf said the family would release a statement after more details were available.
A service of prayer and remembrance is scheduled at Fort Richardson but funeral information was not available, the Army said in its release.
Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III was killed in action on 4/9/07.
Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, 21, of Albuquerque, N.M.
Spc. Spohn was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska; died April 9 in Karmah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when the enemy attacked his location with indirect fire.
Albuquerque Tribune -- A 2004 Cibola High School graduate who joined the Army five months after receiving his diploma was killed at an Iraqi police station in Karmah.
Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III, 21, a paratrooper assigned to Fort Richardson, Alaska, was hit with indirect fire Monday while working at the Iraqi station with his unit, according to an Army news release.
Three other paratroopers were injured.
Spohn, who went by Adam, lived in Alaska with his wife, Amanda, and their daughter, a spokesman for the family said.
Spohn was assigned to Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division.
He joined the Army in October 2004.
Cibola Principal Grace Brown said Spohn was the eldest of four Spohn children to attend the West Side school.
Two sisters currently attend Cibola, and a brother graduated last year.
Brown remembered Spohn was active in music and drama, and characterized his family as "very strong spiritually," said Rigo Chavez, spokesman for Albuquerque Public Schools.
Chavez said Brown spoke with Spohn's parents after learning of his death.
"They are very proud of him, she said. He died doing something he believed in," Chavez said.
Spohn's parents are Clifford and Sandy Spohn, said the family spokesman, Dever Langholf.
Langholf said the family would release a statement after more details were available.
A service of prayer and remembrance is scheduled at Fort Richardson but funeral information was not available, the Army said in its release.
Army Spc. Clifford A. Spohn III was killed in action on 4/9/07.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown, 31, of Prichard, Ala.
SSgt Brown was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died April 8, 2007 in Baghdad when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. Also killed was Pfc. David N. Simmons.
Soldier from Prichard, Alabama, killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. — A soldier from Prichard was killed by a roadside bomb while riding in an Army Humvee in Iraq, family members said.
Family and friends said Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, was killed April 8 while on either his third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq.
Brown’s sister, Mary Dozier of Mobile, said the married father of three was a 1994 graduate of Blount High School and had recently visited Mobile for Mardi Gras while on leave before returning to Iraq.
Brown was a wide receiver on a Blount football team that won a Class 5A state championship.
Brown had “a great attitude and was a good student,” Blount coach Ben Harris said. “If you want a son, you want one like him.”
Harris said Brown received a scholarship to play football for Tuskegee University.
Dozier said her brother was married to Delisha Brown, who also graduated from Blount in 1994. She currently lives at Fort Benning, Ga., where her husband was based.
Dozier said her brother played one year of college football at Tuskegee but left to join the Army, where he served for about 13 years.
Brown’s longtime friend Jabari Dotch described him as a hero.
“He’s my hero. Everybody needs to know he was a hero,” Dotch said
Alabama soldier killed in Iraq eulogized as hero, role model
By Garry Mitchell
The Associated Press
PRICHARD, Ala. — A Ft. Benning, Ga.-based solider killed in Iraq was eulogized April 20 at his funeral as a “gentle giant” hero and a role model growing up in his hometown of Prichard.
More than 1,000 mourners filled the Nazaree Full Gospel Church in Mobile to bid farewell to Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, who was killed April 8 in a bomb blast that hit his Humvee.
Brown, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning, was on his third tour of duty in Iraq.
“This young man is a hero. He died as a hero and from what we’ve heard today, he lived as a hero,” said the Rev. Dr. Ralph Huling, pastor of St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga., where Brown, his wife, Delisha, and three daughters — 9, 12 and 14 — worshipped.
A small musical ensemble played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as the 1,200-seat church in Mobile filled. A soloist sang “Amazing Grace.” The service swelled into a hand-clapping celebration of Brown’s life.
Among those exchanging upbeat memories of Brown before his flag-draped coffin was his uncle, Hezekiah Brown of Elizabeth City, N.C., who described his nephew as a “gentle giant who never wanted to hurt anybody.”
Others remembered how Brown influenced their lives with his admirable behavior.
Blount High School coach Ben Harris recalled Brown as a wide receiver on his team from 1991 until his graduation in 1994.
“He was a fine person all around,” Harris said.
Alvin Daniels, a former Blount classmate, said it’s a sad time, but Brown liked being in the Army.
“He was a good fellow, real quiet, laid-back,” Daniels said.
Brown also played on the school’s baseball and basketball teams before enrolling at Tuskegee University, where he played football for one year on a scholarship.
Brown left Tuskegee after his freshman year and enlisted in the Army to support his growing family.
Brig. Gen. William Forrester of Fort Rucker, Ala., represented the Army at the service, with an Honor Guard also from Rucker. Brown was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart.
Scores of veterans on motorcycles from the Patriot Guard escorted the funeral procession with police.
Prichard officials announced plans to name a street for Brow. Resolutions honoring Brown from the Alabama Legislature and the city of Mobile also were delivered to Brown’s family.
Burial was in the National Cemetery in Mobile.
Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown was killed in action on 4/08/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown, 31, of Prichard, Ala.
SSgt Brown was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died April 8, 2007 in Baghdad when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using an improvised explosive device and small-arms fire. Also killed was Pfc. David N. Simmons.
Soldier from Prichard, Alabama, killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
MOBILE, Ala. — A soldier from Prichard was killed by a roadside bomb while riding in an Army Humvee in Iraq, family members said.
Family and friends said Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, was killed April 8 while on either his third or fourth tour of duty in Iraq.
Brown’s sister, Mary Dozier of Mobile, said the married father of three was a 1994 graduate of Blount High School and had recently visited Mobile for Mardi Gras while on leave before returning to Iraq.
Brown was a wide receiver on a Blount football team that won a Class 5A state championship.
Brown had “a great attitude and was a good student,” Blount coach Ben Harris said. “If you want a son, you want one like him.”
Harris said Brown received a scholarship to play football for Tuskegee University.
Dozier said her brother was married to Delisha Brown, who also graduated from Blount in 1994. She currently lives at Fort Benning, Ga., where her husband was based.
Dozier said her brother played one year of college football at Tuskegee but left to join the Army, where he served for about 13 years.
Brown’s longtime friend Jabari Dotch described him as a hero.
“He’s my hero. Everybody needs to know he was a hero,” Dotch said
Alabama soldier killed in Iraq eulogized as hero, role model
By Garry Mitchell
The Associated Press
PRICHARD, Ala. — A Ft. Benning, Ga.-based solider killed in Iraq was eulogized April 20 at his funeral as a “gentle giant” hero and a role model growing up in his hometown of Prichard.
More than 1,000 mourners filled the Nazaree Full Gospel Church in Mobile to bid farewell to Army Staff Sgt. Harrison “Duck” Brown, 31, who was killed April 8 in a bomb blast that hit his Humvee.
Brown, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 69th Armor Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, at Fort Benning, was on his third tour of duty in Iraq.
“This young man is a hero. He died as a hero and from what we’ve heard today, he lived as a hero,” said the Rev. Dr. Ralph Huling, pastor of St. James Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga., where Brown, his wife, Delisha, and three daughters — 9, 12 and 14 — worshipped.
A small musical ensemble played “When the Saints Go Marching In” as the 1,200-seat church in Mobile filled. A soloist sang “Amazing Grace.” The service swelled into a hand-clapping celebration of Brown’s life.
Among those exchanging upbeat memories of Brown before his flag-draped coffin was his uncle, Hezekiah Brown of Elizabeth City, N.C., who described his nephew as a “gentle giant who never wanted to hurt anybody.”
Others remembered how Brown influenced their lives with his admirable behavior.
Blount High School coach Ben Harris recalled Brown as a wide receiver on his team from 1991 until his graduation in 1994.
“He was a fine person all around,” Harris said.
Alvin Daniels, a former Blount classmate, said it’s a sad time, but Brown liked being in the Army.
“He was a good fellow, real quiet, laid-back,” Daniels said.
Brown also played on the school’s baseball and basketball teams before enrolling at Tuskegee University, where he played football for one year on a scholarship.
Brown left Tuskegee after his freshman year and enlisted in the Army to support his growing family.
Brig. Gen. William Forrester of Fort Rucker, Ala., represented the Army at the service, with an Honor Guard also from Rucker. Brown was posthumously awarded a Bronze Star for valor and a Purple Heart.
Scores of veterans on motorcycles from the Patriot Guard escorted the funeral procession with police.
Prichard officials announced plans to name a street for Brow. Resolutions honoring Brown from the Alabama Legislature and the city of Mobile also were delivered to Brown’s family.
Burial was in the National Cemetery in Mobile.
Army Staff Sgt. Harrison Brown was killed in action on 4/08/07.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless
Remember Our Heroes
Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark.
Pfc. McCandless was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Ebe F. Emolo and Spc. Levi K. Hoover.
KTRE9 -- American flags and yellow ribbons cover the outside of the McCandless home. All signs of a family proud of the sacrifice made by 22-year-old Rodney McCandless. A soldier killed in combat while serving his country in Iraq on Easter Sunday.
"He was courageous. He was brave. He wasn't scared of anything. He wouldn't back down from a fight. He loved what he did. He did it for his country and he didn't mind," said his uncle, Joe McCandless.
"I just want god to bring him back to me. It's not fair. It's not fair," said his mother, Rhonda McCandless
Inside, family and friends rely on one another for support, and try to remember the good times they shared with Rodney.
"When he was just a year old, we dressed him up as a Cabbage Patch baby and he won first place in a Halloween contest. And I've always told him that all of his life, so that he's always known that he's my little Cabbage Patch baby," Rodney's mother fondly recalled.
"Growing up as we were kids, I'd ask my mother if I could go to a friend's house. She'd always tell me, 'Take Rodney with you!' So everyday, I've always had my little brother with me and from this day on, he'll still be with me," his older brother, James Sumner, told us.
"He had to be a role model for kids younger than him. He didn't do drugs and he didn't drink, he didn't smoke. Because if one of those kids saw him do it, and those kids were looking up to him, then he felt that he would be responsible for them doing that," his aunt, Sharla Parker, said.
Dealing with Rodney's death is hard for them, but his family and friends know he wouldn't want them to grieve for long.
"His message would be, "rock on!" He wanted everybody to just keep going pretty much. He wanted us all to keep going forward," said his Uncle Joe.
A final wish Rodney's family and friends say they're doing their best to fulfill.
Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark.
Pfc. McCandless was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Ebe F. Emolo and Spc. Levi K. Hoover.
KTRE9 -- American flags and yellow ribbons cover the outside of the McCandless home. All signs of a family proud of the sacrifice made by 22-year-old Rodney McCandless. A soldier killed in combat while serving his country in Iraq on Easter Sunday.
"He was courageous. He was brave. He wasn't scared of anything. He wouldn't back down from a fight. He loved what he did. He did it for his country and he didn't mind," said his uncle, Joe McCandless.
"I just want god to bring him back to me. It's not fair. It's not fair," said his mother, Rhonda McCandless
Inside, family and friends rely on one another for support, and try to remember the good times they shared with Rodney.
"When he was just a year old, we dressed him up as a Cabbage Patch baby and he won first place in a Halloween contest. And I've always told him that all of his life, so that he's always known that he's my little Cabbage Patch baby," Rodney's mother fondly recalled.
"Growing up as we were kids, I'd ask my mother if I could go to a friend's house. She'd always tell me, 'Take Rodney with you!' So everyday, I've always had my little brother with me and from this day on, he'll still be with me," his older brother, James Sumner, told us.
"He had to be a role model for kids younger than him. He didn't do drugs and he didn't drink, he didn't smoke. Because if one of those kids saw him do it, and those kids were looking up to him, then he felt that he would be responsible for them doing that," his aunt, Sharla Parker, said.
Dealing with Rodney's death is hard for them, but his family and friends know he wouldn't want them to grieve for long.
"His message would be, "rock on!" He wanted everybody to just keep going pretty much. He wanted us all to keep going forward," said his Uncle Joe.
A final wish Rodney's family and friends say they're doing their best to fulfill.
Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Army Specialist Levi K. Hoover
Remember Our Heroes
Army Specialist Levi K. Hoover, 23, of Midland, Mich.
Spc. Hoover was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Ebe F. Emolo and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
Bay City Times -- MIDLAND - Friends and co-workers at the Meijer store in Midland, where Levi K. Hoover worked before joining the U.S. Army, have placed a memorial in the store for the fallen soldier.
''He left a couple of years ago, but he's still considered an employee,'' said Emily Bolander, administrative assistant at the store. ''He was on military leave.''
Bolander was to place Hoover's photo and a sympathy card for customers to sign at the store's main entrance.
A private first class with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., Hoover, 23, died Saturday.
He was one of four soldiers killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their unit in Zaganiyah, Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Hoover; Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.; Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, N.C., and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark., were with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
Hoover, a 2002 Dow High School graduate, worked in the meat and seafood department at Meijer.
''He was really friendly, good natured and interested in a lot of different things,'' Bolander said.
Hoover was engaged and hoped to become a police officer, relatives said.
'He was a good person,'' said his mother, Belinda Brewster. ''We were proud of him.''
Brewster talked with Hoover two days before his death, when he described a deadly roadside bomb explosion.
''I think he was worried,'' Brewster said. ''It was a dangerous place to be.''
Hoover received a criminal justice degree from Delta College before heading to Alaska to work as a ranger's assistant.
He enlisted in the Army in 2005 and deployed to Iraq the next year. He got engaged Christmas Day to a woman he met in Alaska.
In high school, Hoover wrestled and was a member of the steering committee that set policy for the school, Brewster said.
Adam San Miguel, his wrestling coach all four years, said Hoover was a good youngster who was well liked by his teammates.
While a student, he often talked about traveling to Alaska and having a career in law enforcement, San Miguel said. When he finally made it to Alaska, he gave his old coach a call, he said.
''The kid loved to go fishing and had a passion for the outdoors,'' San Miguel said. ''When he made his way to Alaska, he had reached one of his dreams.''
Army Specialist Levi K. Hoover was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Army Specialist Levi K. Hoover, 23, of Midland, Mich.
Spc. Hoover was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Ebe F. Emolo and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
Bay City Times -- MIDLAND - Friends and co-workers at the Meijer store in Midland, where Levi K. Hoover worked before joining the U.S. Army, have placed a memorial in the store for the fallen soldier.
''He left a couple of years ago, but he's still considered an employee,'' said Emily Bolander, administrative assistant at the store. ''He was on military leave.''
Bolander was to place Hoover's photo and a sympathy card for customers to sign at the store's main entrance.
A private first class with the Army's 82nd Airborne Division based at Fort Bragg, N.C., Hoover, 23, died Saturday.
He was one of four soldiers killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their unit in Zaganiyah, Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
Hoover; Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.; Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, N.C., and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark., were with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team.
Hoover, a 2002 Dow High School graduate, worked in the meat and seafood department at Meijer.
''He was really friendly, good natured and interested in a lot of different things,'' Bolander said.
Hoover was engaged and hoped to become a police officer, relatives said.
'He was a good person,'' said his mother, Belinda Brewster. ''We were proud of him.''
Brewster talked with Hoover two days before his death, when he described a deadly roadside bomb explosion.
''I think he was worried,'' Brewster said. ''It was a dangerous place to be.''
Hoover received a criminal justice degree from Delta College before heading to Alaska to work as a ranger's assistant.
He enlisted in the Army in 2005 and deployed to Iraq the next year. He got engaged Christmas Day to a woman he met in Alaska.
In high school, Hoover wrestled and was a member of the steering committee that set policy for the school, Brewster said.
Adam San Miguel, his wrestling coach all four years, said Hoover was a good youngster who was well liked by his teammates.
While a student, he often talked about traveling to Alaska and having a career in law enforcement, San Miguel said. When he finally made it to Alaska, he gave his old coach a call, he said.
''The kid loved to go fishing and had a passion for the outdoors,'' San Miguel said. ''When he made his way to Alaska, he had reached one of his dreams.''
Army Specialist Levi K. Hoover was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Army Specialist Ebe F. Emolo
Remember Our Heroes
Army Specialist Ebe F. Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, N.C.
Spc. Emolo was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Levi K. Hoover and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
News-Record -- GREENSBORO -- A paratrooper from Greensboro died over the weekend in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, 33, was killed when a bomb exploded near his unit. Emolo was a vehicle driver with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
Emolo's commander praised his service and sacrifice, saying his death would strengthen his fellow soldiers' resolve to accomplish their mission.
"Specialist Emolo was an inspiration to all who knew him," Capt. John Carson said in a news release. "The success and achievements our squadron has endured over the past few weeks has not been easy or cheap, and we stand indebted to this great man who gave up his life in the service of his country."
Attempts to reach Emolo's family Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.
Among his survivors are wife Charlotte Brown and sister Sanwoa Wiggins, both of Greensboro, according to the military.
Emolo was a decorated soldier whose awards included the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart with one oak leaf cluster, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Action Badge and the Parachutist's Badge, according to the military.
Emolo joined the Army in February 2005, the 82nd Airborne said. He completed vehicle driver advanced individual training and the basic airborne course that November and was assigned to his squad the following month.
The bombing also killed Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.; Spc. Levi K. Hoover, 23, of Midland, Mich.; and Spc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark.
Army Specialist Ebe F. Emolo was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Army Specialist Ebe F. Emolo, 33, of Greensboro, N.C.
Spc. Emolo was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, Spc. Levi K. Hoover and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
News-Record -- GREENSBORO -- A paratrooper from Greensboro died over the weekend in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense said Tuesday.
Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, 33, was killed when a bomb exploded near his unit. Emolo was a vehicle driver with the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg.
Emolo's commander praised his service and sacrifice, saying his death would strengthen his fellow soldiers' resolve to accomplish their mission.
"Specialist Emolo was an inspiration to all who knew him," Capt. John Carson said in a news release. "The success and achievements our squadron has endured over the past few weeks has not been easy or cheap, and we stand indebted to this great man who gave up his life in the service of his country."
Attempts to reach Emolo's family Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.
Among his survivors are wife Charlotte Brown and sister Sanwoa Wiggins, both of Greensboro, according to the military.
Emolo was a decorated soldier whose awards included the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart with one oak leaf cluster, the National Defense Service Medal, the Iraqi Campaign Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Action Badge and the Parachutist's Badge, according to the military.
Emolo joined the Army in February 2005, the 82nd Airborne said. He completed vehicle driver advanced individual training and the basic airborne course that November and was assigned to his squad the following month.
The bombing also killed Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.; Spc. Levi K. Hoover, 23, of Midland, Mich.; and Spc. Rodney L. McCandless, 21, of Camden, Ark.
Army Specialist Ebe F. Emolo was killed in action on 4/7/07.
Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh
Remember Our Heroes
Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.
Capt. Grassbaugh was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, Spc. Levi K. Hoover and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
SeaCoastOnline -- EXETER (AP) — A U.S. Army Ranger and former Phillips Exeter Academy student was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq.
Jonathan Grassbaugh, 26, who was the son of Hampstead Middle School's principal, was killed late last week and Patti Grassbaugh learned of his death on Saturday. He was her youngest son. Students at Hampstead Middle School were notified of the death.
"Mrs. Grassbaugh has requested that the family be given the time to mourn and to just keep her family in your thoughts and prayers," a letter from Owen Harrington, assistant principal, said on the school's Web site. The letter also was sent home with students.
Jonathan Grassbaugh was sent to Iraq for the second time earlier this winter after a brief visit with his family. His father, Mark Grassbaugh, who was also a Ranger, was away on business when his mother received the news.
Jonathan Grassbaugh attended Hampstead Central School and graduated from Hampstead Middle School. He went on to Phillips Exeter and then to Johns Hopkins University, where he was a member of the ROTC and graduated as an Army officer, the to The Eagle-Tribune reported.
He was married last summer. His wife is also an ROTC officer.
"Jonathan was a really great kid," said Dillard Collins, Central School principal. "I've dealt with a lot of kids in my years, and Jonathan was in the top 1 percent. Not only was he smart and an extremely nice kid, he was highly motivated and fully understood the concept of duty and honor, as does his entire family."
Hampstead School Board chairman Natalie Gallo said she cried when she heard of the death. "It is such a shame, such a waste of such a very intelligent and lovely young man," she said. "I am heartbroken for Patti and Mark."
Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh was killed in action on 4/7/07
Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh, 25, of East Hampstead, N.H.
Capt. Grassbaugh was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died April 7 in Zaganiyah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit. Also killed were Spc. Ebe F. Emolo, Spc. Levi K. Hoover and Pfc. Rodney L. McCandless.
SeaCoastOnline -- EXETER (AP) — A U.S. Army Ranger and former Phillips Exeter Academy student was killed by a roadside bomb while serving in Iraq.
Jonathan Grassbaugh, 26, who was the son of Hampstead Middle School's principal, was killed late last week and Patti Grassbaugh learned of his death on Saturday. He was her youngest son. Students at Hampstead Middle School were notified of the death.
"Mrs. Grassbaugh has requested that the family be given the time to mourn and to just keep her family in your thoughts and prayers," a letter from Owen Harrington, assistant principal, said on the school's Web site. The letter also was sent home with students.
Jonathan Grassbaugh was sent to Iraq for the second time earlier this winter after a brief visit with his family. His father, Mark Grassbaugh, who was also a Ranger, was away on business when his mother received the news.
Jonathan Grassbaugh attended Hampstead Central School and graduated from Hampstead Middle School. He went on to Phillips Exeter and then to Johns Hopkins University, where he was a member of the ROTC and graduated as an Army officer, the to The Eagle-Tribune reported.
He was married last summer. His wife is also an ROTC officer.
"Jonathan was a really great kid," said Dillard Collins, Central School principal. "I've dealt with a lot of kids in my years, and Jonathan was in the top 1 percent. Not only was he smart and an extremely nice kid, he was highly motivated and fully understood the concept of duty and honor, as does his entire family."
Hampstead School Board chairman Natalie Gallo said she cried when she heard of the death. "It is such a shame, such a waste of such a very intelligent and lovely young man," she said. "I am heartbroken for Patti and Mark."
Army Capt. Jonathan D. Grassbaugh was killed in action on 4/7/07
Friday, April 06, 2007
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall
Remember Our Heroes
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho
Petty Officer 2nd Class Hall was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween.
Times-News -- EVERETT, Wash. - Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Hall, 24, of Burley was the type of man you might expect to volunteer to defuse bombs, to save people.
The towering 6-foot-7-inch former high school basketball player "was like a ray of sunshine," said his sister, Brenda Thibeault, 37. "He loved to tease and play, but knew where the line was. He always knew how just to have fun."
He was already a hero long before he died Friday in Iraq, while assigned to defusing and detonating bombs. Hall was probably killed by an improvised explosive device, or IED, although no specifics have been released, said a spokeswoman for Navy public affairs at the Pentagon.
As a lanky 14-year-old Boy Scout, he was credited with saving his father's life in a rafting accident in the rapids along the Salmon River.
A fierce windstorm worked a boulder loose from a cliff. A chunk split off, hitting Hall's father in his arm and head, breaking his arm and knocking him unconscious.
He plunged face down into the water.
Even though the teen himself was hit on the arm and injured by another chunk of rock, he jumped out of the raft in an attempt to save his father.
But he couldn't flip him over on his own.
One of Hall's older brothers, Randy, 16 at the time, jumped in after them, and together the boys grabbed their father and swam him to shore.
The young men were awarded the Boy Scout's Honor Medal, for unusual heroism and skill in saving a life at considerable risk to themselves.
Their story was featured in Boys Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.
Years later, the brothers would join the Navy, both serving in combat in Iraq.
Randy Hall was wounded in Iraq in 2003 when his Humvee was attacked, killing a sailor beside him. He is now attending college in Dillon, Mont. The Navy has agreed to fly him to a military mortuary in Dover, Del., this week to escort his brother's body to their family home in Idaho.
Thibeault, 37, said saving their father's life was characteristic of her fallen brother, who would later volunteer for the dangerous job of dismantling bombs in the Navy.
Hall earned three medals as a specialist in defusing and exploding bombs underwater, a Pentagon spokeswoman told the Times-News on Monday.
He was the youngest of five children from a family in Burley.
After hearing the news, neighbors of Hall's parents and the Boy Scouts lined their cul-de-sac with 67 American flags.
Hall enjoyed shooting guns, riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, driving Jeeps and running around in his new snowmobile, Thibeault said.
Chukk Fogel, 24, of San Diego, became friends with Hall in Florida where the two were training to be explosive ordinance disposal technicians.
They became fast friends and spent many nights hanging out together, Fogel said.
"He loved the outdoors," he said. "He loved to go up in the mountains and go (four-wheeling) with his Jeep. He had a huge Jeep with huge tires."
He also had a more artistic side, learning to play guitar, piano and trombone, Thibeault said. He also was family oriented, always taking time to visit his siblings.
He called his mother, Pam, who is an elementary school teacher, on her birthday Thursday, the day before he was killed. It was his second tour of duty in Iraq.
During his first tour, Hall, a certified diver, trained dolphins to locate and clear mines.
Between tours, Hall visited his family for Christmas, and bought the snowmobile he kept in his parent's garage.
Thibeault said her family is still numb and in shock, trying to cope with the loss of the young man who always seemed so full of joy.
She said her family has turned for comfort to leaders at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they attend.
"My parents don't blame anyone, the war, or the Navy," she said. "But in some ways, they don't feel it's fair because he was such an amazing person. It's not fair to take somebody like that, but there's a reason for everything, and someday we'll know that reason."
One of Hall's older brothers, Michael, died of a mysterious illness in 2003.
Shortly before his death, he posted a tribute on the Web to his brothers, who were both in the Navy at the time.
"My younger brothers are heroes," he wrote. "Not only to me and my family but to the whole community of Burley, Idaho."
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall was killed in action on 4/6/07.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho
Petty Officer 2nd Class Hall was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween.
Times-News -- EVERETT, Wash. - Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis Hall, 24, of Burley was the type of man you might expect to volunteer to defuse bombs, to save people.
The towering 6-foot-7-inch former high school basketball player "was like a ray of sunshine," said his sister, Brenda Thibeault, 37. "He loved to tease and play, but knew where the line was. He always knew how just to have fun."
He was already a hero long before he died Friday in Iraq, while assigned to defusing and detonating bombs. Hall was probably killed by an improvised explosive device, or IED, although no specifics have been released, said a spokeswoman for Navy public affairs at the Pentagon.
As a lanky 14-year-old Boy Scout, he was credited with saving his father's life in a rafting accident in the rapids along the Salmon River.
A fierce windstorm worked a boulder loose from a cliff. A chunk split off, hitting Hall's father in his arm and head, breaking his arm and knocking him unconscious.
He plunged face down into the water.
Even though the teen himself was hit on the arm and injured by another chunk of rock, he jumped out of the raft in an attempt to save his father.
But he couldn't flip him over on his own.
One of Hall's older brothers, Randy, 16 at the time, jumped in after them, and together the boys grabbed their father and swam him to shore.
The young men were awarded the Boy Scout's Honor Medal, for unusual heroism and skill in saving a life at considerable risk to themselves.
Their story was featured in Boys Life, the official magazine of the Boy Scouts of America.
Years later, the brothers would join the Navy, both serving in combat in Iraq.
Randy Hall was wounded in Iraq in 2003 when his Humvee was attacked, killing a sailor beside him. He is now attending college in Dillon, Mont. The Navy has agreed to fly him to a military mortuary in Dover, Del., this week to escort his brother's body to their family home in Idaho.
Thibeault, 37, said saving their father's life was characteristic of her fallen brother, who would later volunteer for the dangerous job of dismantling bombs in the Navy.
Hall earned three medals as a specialist in defusing and exploding bombs underwater, a Pentagon spokeswoman told the Times-News on Monday.
He was the youngest of five children from a family in Burley.
After hearing the news, neighbors of Hall's parents and the Boy Scouts lined their cul-de-sac with 67 American flags.
Hall enjoyed shooting guns, riding his Harley-Davidson motorcycle, driving Jeeps and running around in his new snowmobile, Thibeault said.
Chukk Fogel, 24, of San Diego, became friends with Hall in Florida where the two were training to be explosive ordinance disposal technicians.
They became fast friends and spent many nights hanging out together, Fogel said.
"He loved the outdoors," he said. "He loved to go up in the mountains and go (four-wheeling) with his Jeep. He had a huge Jeep with huge tires."
He also had a more artistic side, learning to play guitar, piano and trombone, Thibeault said. He also was family oriented, always taking time to visit his siblings.
He called his mother, Pam, who is an elementary school teacher, on her birthday Thursday, the day before he was killed. It was his second tour of duty in Iraq.
During his first tour, Hall, a certified diver, trained dolphins to locate and clear mines.
Between tours, Hall visited his family for Christmas, and bought the snowmobile he kept in his parent's garage.
Thibeault said her family is still numb and in shock, trying to cope with the loss of the young man who always seemed so full of joy.
She said her family has turned for comfort to leaders at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where they attend.
"My parents don't blame anyone, the war, or the Navy," she said. "But in some ways, they don't feel it's fair because he was such an amazing person. It's not fair to take somebody like that, but there's a reason for everything, and someday we'll know that reason."
One of Hall's older brothers, Michael, died of a mysterious illness in 2003.
Shortly before his death, he posted a tribute on the Web to his brothers, who were both in the Navy at the time.
"My younger brothers are heroes," he wrote. "Not only to me and my family but to the whole community of Burley, Idaho."
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall was killed in action on 4/6/07.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween
Remember Our Heroes
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class McSween was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall.
KETV -- YORK, Neb. -- A 26-year-old Georgia sailor killed Friday in Iraq met his wife at York College, and that's where he'll be buried, according to York College president Wayne Baker, who said he spoke to PFC Joseph McSween's wife.
The Pentagon said McSween and two soldiers were killed in combat near Kirkuk in northern Iraq. Details of how the three were killed were not disclosed. They were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them.
McSween graduated from York College in 2003. Steddon Sikes, of the school's public relations office, said McSween was a likable guy.
"His big smile, mixed with his southern charm, made it easy to be around him," Sikes said.
Friends said McSween's leadership stood out at an early age. Home video shows him helping other kids over a climbing wall.
"He was so friendly," said friend Trent Hinton. "Always had that smile. Everyone remembers and talks about his laugh."
Hinton was on the York College track team with McSween, and said he remembers the day his friend decided to join the Navy.
"One day he just decided he wanted to be part of the military and he started training for it," Hinton said.
Hinton said York College became a life-changing experience for McSween. He met his Iowa-born wife, Erin, there. The couple moved first to San Diego then to Washington.
"They have a lot of friends here, and this is where a lot of their friendships were made," Hinton said of York.
Friends said that before McSween left for Iraq, he told his wife that if anything happened to him he wanted to be buried -- not in his hometown in Georgia -- but instead in York where the couple called home.
"It amazed me," said Baker. "I didn't know Adam had so taken the York campus and community in his mind and heart that he would call it home."
Baker said the whole town is touched by McSween's love for the community.
"The city of York will give him a hometown hero's welcome. There will be flags on every street," Baker said.
McSween leaves behind two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween was killed in action on 04/06/07.
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Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class McSween was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall.
KETV -- YORK, Neb. -- A 26-year-old Georgia sailor killed Friday in Iraq met his wife at York College, and that's where he'll be buried, according to York College president Wayne Baker, who said he spoke to PFC Joseph McSween's wife.
The Pentagon said McSween and two soldiers were killed in combat near Kirkuk in northern Iraq. Details of how the three were killed were not disclosed. They were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them.
McSween graduated from York College in 2003. Steddon Sikes, of the school's public relations office, said McSween was a likable guy.
"His big smile, mixed with his southern charm, made it easy to be around him," Sikes said.
Friends said McSween's leadership stood out at an early age. Home video shows him helping other kids over a climbing wall.
"He was so friendly," said friend Trent Hinton. "Always had that smile. Everyone remembers and talks about his laugh."
Hinton was on the York College track team with McSween, and said he remembers the day his friend decided to join the Navy.
"One day he just decided he wanted to be part of the military and he started training for it," Hinton said.
Hinton said York College became a life-changing experience for McSween. He met his Iowa-born wife, Erin, there. The couple moved first to San Diego then to Washington.
"They have a lot of friends here, and this is where a lot of their friendships were made," Hinton said of York.
Friends said that before McSween left for Iraq, he told his wife that if anything happened to him he wanted to be buried -- not in his hometown in Georgia -- but instead in York where the couple called home.
"It amazed me," said Baker. "I didn't know Adam had so taken the York campus and community in his mind and heart that he would call it home."
Baker said the whole town is touched by McSween's love for the community.
"The city of York will give him a hometown hero's welcome. There will be flags on every street," Baker said.
McSween leaves behind two daughters, ages 5 and 2.
Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween was killed in action on 04/06/07.
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Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter
Remember Our Heroes
Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky.
Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween.
Fort Lewis soldier, three Whidbey Island sailors killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A Fort Lewis, Wash.-based soldier who won the Purple Heart on his first tour of duty in Iraq was killed during his second, his family said April 9.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense reported that three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed April 6 near Kirkuk — the first Whidbey sailors killed in the war.
Army Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, was killed April 7 by a sniper, said Santa Rosa mayor Bob Blanchard, a family friend. Williams, who had been serving in Baghdad, was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., his family said.
Snipers were Williams’ biggest fear in Iraq, Blanchard said. The mayor recalled Williams telling him on a recent trip home: “I can fight people eye to eye, but I can’t fight back if I can’t see them.”
Williams left behind a wife, Sonya, and their 11-month-old daughter, Amaya.
The three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island were Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky.; Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho; and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.
The Defense Department did not immediately release the circumstances of their deaths.
Billiter’s father, Barry Billiter, said his son had been in the Navy for 15 years and was on his third tour of Iraq. Barry Billiter had been in touch with his son by e-mail and said he did not know how he died.
“He was a wonderful son,” he said.
Billiter was married and had one child. His wife is a seventh-grade science teacher at North Whidbey Middle School; pupils were advised of Billiter’s death in a written notice April 9, The Herald newspaper of Everett, Wash., reported.
The three sailors were assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11.
“We’re not the guys who go out and blow stuff up,” Chukk Fogel, who took bomb technician training with Hall, told the Everett newspaper. “We blow stuff up in safe areas. We blow stuff up to save personnel and property.”
Fogel, of San Diego, said Hall was fun-loving and not afraid to take risks.
Hall’s sister, Brenda Thiebeault, said the family was not ready to discuss his death.
Jesse Williams, who won the Purple Heart after shrapnel struck his arm during a clash with insurgents on his first tour, is now up for a Bronze Star for rescuing two soldiers from a burning vehicle three weeks ago, Mayor Blanchard said. In that case, the soldier’s unit came under attack and a roadside bomb ignited extra gasoline aboard a vehicle in which two of the occupants were trapped, he said.
He saw the white-hot fire of combat on both his tours. “He was right there,” Blanchard said. “And you know what? That was Jesse, that’s where he wanted to be.”
Shortly before he left for his second tour of duty around Christmas, the young soldier spoke before the Santa Rosa City Council to support a proposed memorial to honor men and women who died serving their country.
His father, Herb Williams, who was among those behind the effort, recounted those words April 8.
“Jesse thought he would come down and talk about it, and now his name is going to be in it. It’s just eerie,” the elder Williams told The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa.
Funeral for sailor killed in Iraq scheduled
The Associated Press
VILLA HILLS, Ky. — The funeral has been scheduled for a sailor from northern Kentucky who was killed in Iraq.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, was killed in northern Iraq on April 6 during combat operations. He was a specialist in dismantling explosive devices on his third tour of duty there.
Visitation will be April 14 at Saint Joseph Church in Crescent Springs, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., followed by the funeral at 1 p.m. Billiter will be buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.
Billiter attended St. Joseph School in Crescent Springs and graduated from Covington Latin School, where he played basketball, soccer and ran track.
Billiter received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Dayton in 1991 and enlisted in the Navy in January 1992.
Barry Billiter said his son liked the mental challenge of dismantling explosive devices, just as he enjoyed the physical challenge of playing sports.
Mourners gather for sailor’s funeral
The Associated Press
CRESCENT SPRINGS, Ky. — A northern Kentucky sailor was eulogized April 14 as hundreds gathered for a funeral mass.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, a Villa Hills native, died April 6 during an enemy attack while searching for unexploded bombs in Iraq.
“Good Friday will never be the same for any of us here united by ... Greg’s Good Friday death,” said the Rev. Daniel J. Vogelpohl, who presided at St. Joseph Church. “What could possibly be good by Good Friday 2007?”
Vogelpohl said it is the goodness of people — like Billiter — willing to sacrifice their lives for others who will mark the goodness of Good Friday for years to come, the Kentucky Enquirer reported.
He said Billiter’s adult life dealt him many setbacks and disappointments including not being able to find a job after college, having a knee injury disqualify him from being a Navy Seal, and being deployed in Iraq — three times.
“In a sense, I hear Greg calling out to me, to us, that life isn’t fair but deal with it,” Vogelpohl said. “Learn to be creative about it.”
Billiter leaves behind a wife of 10 years and 3-year-old son.
The petty officer’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Martin Beck, received a standing ovation after repeatedly fighting back tears while recounting Billiter’s service to the country.
“His selfless leadership and sincerity earned him a respect very few in the military ever know,” Beck said before announcing that Billiter had earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Billiter was one of three sailors assigned to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station killed in the attack. A military spokesman said it was the first Iraq war casualties from the base, located north of Seattle.
Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter was killed in action on 04/06/07.
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Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky.
Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.; died April 6 from enemy action while conducting combat operations near Kirkuk, Iraq. Also killed were Explosive Ordnance Disposal 2nd Class (Diver) Curtis R. Hall and Explosive Ordnance Disposal 1st Class (Diver) Joseph A. McSween.
Fort Lewis soldier, three Whidbey Island sailors killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A Fort Lewis, Wash.-based soldier who won the Purple Heart on his first tour of duty in Iraq was killed during his second, his family said April 9.
Meanwhile, the Department of Defense reported that three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed April 6 near Kirkuk — the first Whidbey sailors killed in the war.
Army Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, was killed April 7 by a sniper, said Santa Rosa mayor Bob Blanchard, a family friend. Williams, who had been serving in Baghdad, was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., his family said.
Snipers were Williams’ biggest fear in Iraq, Blanchard said. The mayor recalled Williams telling him on a recent trip home: “I can fight people eye to eye, but I can’t fight back if I can’t see them.”
Williams left behind a wife, Sonya, and their 11-month-old daughter, Amaya.
The three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island were Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky.; Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho; and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.
The Defense Department did not immediately release the circumstances of their deaths.
Billiter’s father, Barry Billiter, said his son had been in the Navy for 15 years and was on his third tour of Iraq. Barry Billiter had been in touch with his son by e-mail and said he did not know how he died.
“He was a wonderful son,” he said.
Billiter was married and had one child. His wife is a seventh-grade science teacher at North Whidbey Middle School; pupils were advised of Billiter’s death in a written notice April 9, The Herald newspaper of Everett, Wash., reported.
The three sailors were assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11.
“We’re not the guys who go out and blow stuff up,” Chukk Fogel, who took bomb technician training with Hall, told the Everett newspaper. “We blow stuff up in safe areas. We blow stuff up to save personnel and property.”
Fogel, of San Diego, said Hall was fun-loving and not afraid to take risks.
Hall’s sister, Brenda Thiebeault, said the family was not ready to discuss his death.
Jesse Williams, who won the Purple Heart after shrapnel struck his arm during a clash with insurgents on his first tour, is now up for a Bronze Star for rescuing two soldiers from a burning vehicle three weeks ago, Mayor Blanchard said. In that case, the soldier’s unit came under attack and a roadside bomb ignited extra gasoline aboard a vehicle in which two of the occupants were trapped, he said.
He saw the white-hot fire of combat on both his tours. “He was right there,” Blanchard said. “And you know what? That was Jesse, that’s where he wanted to be.”
Shortly before he left for his second tour of duty around Christmas, the young soldier spoke before the Santa Rosa City Council to support a proposed memorial to honor men and women who died serving their country.
His father, Herb Williams, who was among those behind the effort, recounted those words April 8.
“Jesse thought he would come down and talk about it, and now his name is going to be in it. It’s just eerie,” the elder Williams told The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa.
Funeral for sailor killed in Iraq scheduled
The Associated Press
VILLA HILLS, Ky. — The funeral has been scheduled for a sailor from northern Kentucky who was killed in Iraq.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, was killed in northern Iraq on April 6 during combat operations. He was a specialist in dismantling explosive devices on his third tour of duty there.
Visitation will be April 14 at Saint Joseph Church in Crescent Springs, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., followed by the funeral at 1 p.m. Billiter will be buried at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Fort Mitchell.
Billiter attended St. Joseph School in Crescent Springs and graduated from Covington Latin School, where he played basketball, soccer and ran track.
Billiter received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Dayton in 1991 and enlisted in the Navy in January 1992.
Barry Billiter said his son liked the mental challenge of dismantling explosive devices, just as he enjoyed the physical challenge of playing sports.
Mourners gather for sailor’s funeral
The Associated Press
CRESCENT SPRINGS, Ky. — A northern Kentucky sailor was eulogized April 14 as hundreds gathered for a funeral mass.
Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, a Villa Hills native, died April 6 during an enemy attack while searching for unexploded bombs in Iraq.
“Good Friday will never be the same for any of us here united by ... Greg’s Good Friday death,” said the Rev. Daniel J. Vogelpohl, who presided at St. Joseph Church. “What could possibly be good by Good Friday 2007?”
Vogelpohl said it is the goodness of people — like Billiter — willing to sacrifice their lives for others who will mark the goodness of Good Friday for years to come, the Kentucky Enquirer reported.
He said Billiter’s adult life dealt him many setbacks and disappointments including not being able to find a job after college, having a knee injury disqualify him from being a Navy Seal, and being deployed in Iraq — three times.
“In a sense, I hear Greg calling out to me, to us, that life isn’t fair but deal with it,” Vogelpohl said. “Learn to be creative about it.”
Billiter leaves behind a wife of 10 years and 3-year-old son.
The petty officer’s commanding officer, Cmdr. Martin Beck, received a standing ovation after repeatedly fighting back tears while recounting Billiter’s service to the country.
“His selfless leadership and sincerity earned him a respect very few in the military ever know,” Beck said before announcing that Billiter had earned a Purple Heart and Bronze Star.
Billiter was one of three sailors assigned to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station killed in the attack. A military spokesman said it was the first Iraq war casualties from the base, located north of Seattle.
Chief Explosive Ordnance Disposal (Diver) Gregory J. Billiter was killed in action on 04/06/07.
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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Army Specialist Jason A. Shaffer
Remember Our Heroes
Army Specialist Jason A. Shaffer, 28, of Derry, Pa.
Spc. Shaffer was assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 5 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review -- A 1997 graduate of Derry Area High School on his second tour of duty in Iraq was killed Thursday when the vehicle he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device.
Cpl. Jason A. Shaffer, 28, was an Army scout with the 1st Cavalry Division, said his father, Roger Shaffer, of Front Royal, Va. He was with his squad in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when it was hit in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad.
Roger and Gwen Shaffer, who moved from Derry to Virginia several years ago, were notified of their son's death Thursday.
"He died for our country," Roger Shaffer said Friday.
Before enlisting in the Army, Jason Shaffer worked as a security guard at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township, at Waste Management Inc., and for a landscaping service. He also studied to be a municipal police officer.
Because he loved to hunt, fish, camp and hike, Shaffer enlisted to be an Army scout. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron of the 7th Regiment, which is part of the Iron Horse Brigade. The regiment once was commanded by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.
"That's what he loved," Shaffer's father said. "He loved his job."
Roger Shaffer said his son was up for promotion to sergeant.
"My son was a go-getter," he said. "When he was growing up, I taught him to be a leader. I'm a carpenter, so since he was 5, I gave him tools. It was something he liked to do."
Jason Shaffer served his first tour in 2004 and was sent back to Iraq in October. He had been notified his unit would serve a third tour in 2009, his father said.
Scouting is dangerous work; his son was often in life-threatening situations, but was proud that during his first tour his squad had only one casualty, Roger Shaffer said.
"He brought all his people home. Their parents appreciated that," his father said.
"He was a great guy," said James Lewis, of Derry, a lifelong friend. "He loved to go hiking, backpacking -- and music, music was his passion."
Tim Kunkle, of Derry, has been a friend of Jason Shaffer since the eighth grade.
"He saw a lot of action on his first tour," Kunkle said. "He was very positive. One of his buddies took some shrapnel in the leg. He came back and felt they were helping the general cause of the war. "
During his second tour, Shaffer was in an ambush that killed three soldiers in his unit.
Kunkle said Shaffer described riding in the first Bradley in a convoy when it was ambushed by insurgents. The first two vehicles were allowed to pass. Insurgents detonated a remote-controlled bomb as the third vehicle passed, killing three "very good friends" of Shaffer, Kunkle said.
"They were family in his eyes," Kunkle said.
He said Shaffer was due to come home on leave April 28 and planned to spend time with his wife, the former Kathleen Connor, a fellow student at Derry. She now lives in Oregon with her 2-year-old son.
"She told me he had called a few days ago. She said he was actually in good spirits. They were talking about having a baby," Kunkle said. "He was a wonderful person. He deserved better. It's a tragedy. He was only 28."
Army Specialist Jason A. Shaffer was killed in action on 04/05/07.
Army Specialist Jason A. Shaffer, 28, of Derry, Pa.
Spc. Shaffer was assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 5 in Baqubah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his Bradley Fighting Vehicle.
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review -- A 1997 graduate of Derry Area High School on his second tour of duty in Iraq was killed Thursday when the vehicle he was riding in struck an improvised explosive device.
Cpl. Jason A. Shaffer, 28, was an Army scout with the 1st Cavalry Division, said his father, Roger Shaffer, of Front Royal, Va. He was with his squad in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle when it was hit in Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad.
Roger and Gwen Shaffer, who moved from Derry to Virginia several years ago, were notified of their son's death Thursday.
"He died for our country," Roger Shaffer said Friday.
Before enlisting in the Army, Jason Shaffer worked as a security guard at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township, at Waste Management Inc., and for a landscaping service. He also studied to be a municipal police officer.
Because he loved to hunt, fish, camp and hike, Shaffer enlisted to be an Army scout. He was assigned to the 1st Squadron of the 7th Regiment, which is part of the Iron Horse Brigade. The regiment once was commanded by Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer.
"That's what he loved," Shaffer's father said. "He loved his job."
Roger Shaffer said his son was up for promotion to sergeant.
"My son was a go-getter," he said. "When he was growing up, I taught him to be a leader. I'm a carpenter, so since he was 5, I gave him tools. It was something he liked to do."
Jason Shaffer served his first tour in 2004 and was sent back to Iraq in October. He had been notified his unit would serve a third tour in 2009, his father said.
Scouting is dangerous work; his son was often in life-threatening situations, but was proud that during his first tour his squad had only one casualty, Roger Shaffer said.
"He brought all his people home. Their parents appreciated that," his father said.
"He was a great guy," said James Lewis, of Derry, a lifelong friend. "He loved to go hiking, backpacking -- and music, music was his passion."
Tim Kunkle, of Derry, has been a friend of Jason Shaffer since the eighth grade.
"He saw a lot of action on his first tour," Kunkle said. "He was very positive. One of his buddies took some shrapnel in the leg. He came back and felt they were helping the general cause of the war. "
During his second tour, Shaffer was in an ambush that killed three soldiers in his unit.
Kunkle said Shaffer described riding in the first Bradley in a convoy when it was ambushed by insurgents. The first two vehicles were allowed to pass. Insurgents detonated a remote-controlled bomb as the third vehicle passed, killing three "very good friends" of Shaffer, Kunkle said.
"They were family in his eyes," Kunkle said.
He said Shaffer was due to come home on leave April 28 and planned to spend time with his wife, the former Kathleen Connor, a fellow student at Derry. She now lives in Oregon with her 2-year-old son.
"She told me he had called a few days ago. She said he was actually in good spirits. They were talking about having a baby," Kunkle said. "He was a wonderful person. He deserved better. It's a tragedy. He was only 28."
Army Specialist Jason A. Shaffer was killed in action on 04/05/07.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge, 39, of Carriere, Miss.
SSgt. Burge was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 4 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed was Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV.
Picayune Item -- CARRIERE — A long time county resident has died while serving his county in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After numerous tours overseas, many of which involved injuries, Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Clark Burge Jr., 39, went on another tour of Iraq to help train new recruits and pass along his knowledge.
During his most recent tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he and two other members of his battalion, part of the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas, were on patrol at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, Baghdad time, when their Humvee passed over an improvised explosive device somewhere near Baghdad. The device exploded on the right side of the vehicle killing Burge and the medical officer sitting behind him, said Rosalie Gower, Burge’s ex-wife. The driver was injured in the blast. Burge was demolitions expert and engineer with his battalion.
In previous missions, Burge received Purple Hearts for injuries, said Burge’s friend James Taylor. During one mission in Kosovo, Burge was investigating a bomb in a house. The bomb exploded when Burge was about 10 feet from the house, damaging his eyesight, hearing and giving him a concussion.
In his very first mission, which took place in Baghdad, an rocket-propelled grenade blast injured his shoulder.
"He got injured several times, but he kept going back," Taylor said.
When he was in high school, Burge lived with his aunt and uncle in Carriere, Bobbie and Glen Kennedy, after Burge’s parents moved to Japan when he was 17. His father, who is in the Navy, is currently stationed in Japan, while his mother is in North Carolina. Glen Kennedy said Burge stayed with them to finish high school. After high school he moved to Japan to be with his parents.
"He was well liked, he loved Picayune. This was his home," Bobbie Kennedy said.
Burge eventually moved back to Carriere and again stayed with the Kennedys until he met Gower. They married in 1995 and had two children, Tristan, 10, and Trinity, 7. Burge also helped to raise Gower’s eldest son, Matthew Simmons.
Before he joined the U.S. Army, Burge worked off shore on tug boats with Taylor. Even though Burge was a nephew to the Kennedys he was also considered a son to the couple and a brother to the Kennedys son Timothy Kennedy.
During the events following Hurricane Katrina, Burge made it his priority to come home from Fort Hood, Texas. Taylor said he arrived back in Pearl River County the day after the storm hit. While here, he spent numerous hours helping to clear roads and cut up debris, Taylor said.
"That’s how much he cared about his family. He was coming here no matter what," Tim Kennedy said. "He’s the best brother any man could ever have, cousin or not."
Even after Gower and Burge went their separate ways, Gower said they remained friends.
Bobbie Kennedy said that before Burge left on his most recent mission he told her that if something happened to him, he was going overseas because his men needed him. Burge felt that there were a number of new men going overseas that he could share his knowledge with.
"He said he would die doing what he wanted to do," Bobbie Kennedy said.
Services for Burge are tentative, but family members expect them to be set for sometime in the middle of the week. The Patriot Riders are scheduled to escort Burge to his home for his services and internment, Taylor said.
Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge was killed in action on 04/04/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge, 39, of Carriere, Miss.
SSgt. Burge was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 4 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed was Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV.
Picayune Item -- CARRIERE — A long time county resident has died while serving his county in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
After numerous tours overseas, many of which involved injuries, Army Staff Sgt. Jerry Clark Burge Jr., 39, went on another tour of Iraq to help train new recruits and pass along his knowledge.
During his most recent tour in Operation Iraqi Freedom, he and two other members of his battalion, part of the 1st Cavalry Division based in Fort Hood, Texas, were on patrol at about 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 4, Baghdad time, when their Humvee passed over an improvised explosive device somewhere near Baghdad. The device exploded on the right side of the vehicle killing Burge and the medical officer sitting behind him, said Rosalie Gower, Burge’s ex-wife. The driver was injured in the blast. Burge was demolitions expert and engineer with his battalion.
In previous missions, Burge received Purple Hearts for injuries, said Burge’s friend James Taylor. During one mission in Kosovo, Burge was investigating a bomb in a house. The bomb exploded when Burge was about 10 feet from the house, damaging his eyesight, hearing and giving him a concussion.
In his very first mission, which took place in Baghdad, an rocket-propelled grenade blast injured his shoulder.
"He got injured several times, but he kept going back," Taylor said.
When he was in high school, Burge lived with his aunt and uncle in Carriere, Bobbie and Glen Kennedy, after Burge’s parents moved to Japan when he was 17. His father, who is in the Navy, is currently stationed in Japan, while his mother is in North Carolina. Glen Kennedy said Burge stayed with them to finish high school. After high school he moved to Japan to be with his parents.
"He was well liked, he loved Picayune. This was his home," Bobbie Kennedy said.
Burge eventually moved back to Carriere and again stayed with the Kennedys until he met Gower. They married in 1995 and had two children, Tristan, 10, and Trinity, 7. Burge also helped to raise Gower’s eldest son, Matthew Simmons.
Before he joined the U.S. Army, Burge worked off shore on tug boats with Taylor. Even though Burge was a nephew to the Kennedys he was also considered a son to the couple and a brother to the Kennedys son Timothy Kennedy.
During the events following Hurricane Katrina, Burge made it his priority to come home from Fort Hood, Texas. Taylor said he arrived back in Pearl River County the day after the storm hit. While here, he spent numerous hours helping to clear roads and cut up debris, Taylor said.
"That’s how much he cared about his family. He was coming here no matter what," Tim Kennedy said. "He’s the best brother any man could ever have, cousin or not."
Even after Gower and Burge went their separate ways, Gower said they remained friends.
Bobbie Kennedy said that before Burge left on his most recent mission he told her that if something happened to him, he was going overseas because his men needed him. Burge felt that there were a number of new men going overseas that he could share his knowledge with.
"He said he would die doing what he wanted to do," Bobbie Kennedy said.
Services for Burge are tentative, but family members expect them to be set for sometime in the middle of the week. The Patriot Riders are scheduled to escort Burge to his home for his services and internment, Taylor said.
Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge was killed in action on 04/04/07.
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV
Remember Our Heroes
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV, 23, of Ashland, Ky.
Cpl. Cantrell was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 4 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. Also killed was Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge.
Westwood native killed in Iraq
By BEN FIELDS — The Independent
Westwood — A Westwood native was killed in Iraq Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded, according to family members.
Army Spc. Joey Cantrell, 23, a 2002 graduate of Fairview High School, was one of two people killed in the explosion, said his mother, Sondra Adkins.
Adkins said she received a call at work Wednesday evening that two men in uniform were looking for her at her Ashland apartment.
The men told Adkins that her son had been killed at 5:55 p.m. Iraqi time, 10:55 a.m. in the Eastern U.S., she said.
“He was in a vehicle where they were diffusing a roadside bomb,” said a sobbing Adkins. “It blew up and killed him and his sergeant.
“They said he went very fast and there was no suffering.”
Cantrell’s death has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Department of Defense. A spokesman for the agency declined comment because Cantrell was not yet listed among the casualties posted on the department’s Web site.
But news of Cantrell’s death spread quickly through the Ashland community, leaving many in mourning.
“He’s made the ultimate sacrifice and our hearts go out to the family. Most of the kids (at Fairview) remember Joey,” said Bill Musick, superintendent of Fairview schools and Cantrell’s former football coach.
“You always noticed Joey Cantrell because of how he presented himself. He was a sharp kid,” Musick said.
Cantrell played football, ran track and kept his grades up, too, Musick said.
“The last thing he said to me was, ‘coach, I’ll be all right,’” Musick said.
Thursday, the soldier’s MySpace page was flooded with laments and promises of remembrance from friends.
His mother’s apartment was filled Thursday with friends and family offering support.
“He did quite well before he joined the military,” Adkins said. “He could have done anything he wanted. He excelled in everything he ever did.”
“Don’t forget that he had a great smile,” added Teara Hill, a first cousin to Cantrell.
Cantrell was not married, and had no children. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his father, Joseph Cantrell III; his stepfather, Brian Adkins; a 5-year-old brother, Chase Adkins; four aunts; two uncles; two grandparents; and several cousins.
“His little brother is in denial,” Adkins said. “He still thinks Joey’s coming home.”
Adkins herself was struggling with the reality of the news.
“This just can’t be happening,” she said between sobs.
The last time Adkins saw her son was during a surprise visit around Valentine’s Day, when he gave her a medallion in the shape of a dog tag that had a picture of himself, his mother and his brother etched into the metal. The inscription reads “Close at Heart.”
Cantrell is the second soldier from the Ashland area to die in the war in Iraq.
Army Pfc. Scott Messer, 26, was killed in February 2006 when the Humvee he was riding in overturned south of Baghdad.
It took 10 days for Messer’s remains to be returned to Ashland, and Adkins said she was told by military officials it would take the same amount of time for her son.
“He was scheduled to be home in July; now he’ll be home in 10 days,” Adkins said. “I just ask people to pray for me and my family. Joey is loved and sadly missed.
“He never made me anything but proud.”
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV was killed in action on 04/04/07.
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV, 23, of Ashland, Ky.
Cpl. Cantrell was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died April 4 in Taji, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. Also killed was Army Staff Sgt. Jerry C. Burge.
Westwood native killed in Iraq
By BEN FIELDS — The Independent
Westwood — A Westwood native was killed in Iraq Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded, according to family members.
Army Spc. Joey Cantrell, 23, a 2002 graduate of Fairview High School, was one of two people killed in the explosion, said his mother, Sondra Adkins.
Adkins said she received a call at work Wednesday evening that two men in uniform were looking for her at her Ashland apartment.
The men told Adkins that her son had been killed at 5:55 p.m. Iraqi time, 10:55 a.m. in the Eastern U.S., she said.
“He was in a vehicle where they were diffusing a roadside bomb,” said a sobbing Adkins. “It blew up and killed him and his sergeant.
“They said he went very fast and there was no suffering.”
Cantrell’s death has yet to be confirmed by the U.S. Department of Defense. A spokesman for the agency declined comment because Cantrell was not yet listed among the casualties posted on the department’s Web site.
But news of Cantrell’s death spread quickly through the Ashland community, leaving many in mourning.
“He’s made the ultimate sacrifice and our hearts go out to the family. Most of the kids (at Fairview) remember Joey,” said Bill Musick, superintendent of Fairview schools and Cantrell’s former football coach.
“You always noticed Joey Cantrell because of how he presented himself. He was a sharp kid,” Musick said.
Cantrell played football, ran track and kept his grades up, too, Musick said.
“The last thing he said to me was, ‘coach, I’ll be all right,’” Musick said.
Thursday, the soldier’s MySpace page was flooded with laments and promises of remembrance from friends.
His mother’s apartment was filled Thursday with friends and family offering support.
“He did quite well before he joined the military,” Adkins said. “He could have done anything he wanted. He excelled in everything he ever did.”
“Don’t forget that he had a great smile,” added Teara Hill, a first cousin to Cantrell.
Cantrell was not married, and had no children. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his father, Joseph Cantrell III; his stepfather, Brian Adkins; a 5-year-old brother, Chase Adkins; four aunts; two uncles; two grandparents; and several cousins.
“His little brother is in denial,” Adkins said. “He still thinks Joey’s coming home.”
Adkins herself was struggling with the reality of the news.
“This just can’t be happening,” she said between sobs.
The last time Adkins saw her son was during a surprise visit around Valentine’s Day, when he gave her a medallion in the shape of a dog tag that had a picture of himself, his mother and his brother etched into the metal. The inscription reads “Close at Heart.”
Cantrell is the second soldier from the Ashland area to die in the war in Iraq.
Army Pfc. Scott Messer, 26, was killed in February 2006 when the Humvee he was riding in overturned south of Baghdad.
It took 10 days for Messer’s remains to be returned to Ashland, and Adkins said she was told by military officials it would take the same amount of time for her son.
“He was scheduled to be home in July; now he’ll be home in 10 days,” Adkins said. “I just ask people to pray for me and my family. Joey is loved and sadly missed.
“He never made me anything but proud.”
Army Cpl. Joseph H. Cantrell IV was killed in action on 04/04/07.
Monday, April 02, 2007
Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, of Marion, Ind.
SSgt. King was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 152nd Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade, Marion, Ind.; died April 2, 2007 in Amiriyah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.
Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, LaFontaine, passed away on April 2, 2007 in Al Amiriyah, Iraq. He lived in LaFontaine with his wife, Adrian (Stepler) King and son, Daethan King. He was born to Wayne Darnell & Paula S. (Goble) King on February 19, 1979 in Marion, where his parents survive. He was a 1998 graduate of Mississinewa High School. He was serving his country in the United States Indiana Army National Guard. He worked at the Marion Armory as a Automotive Technician. He was a member of the American Legion Post 10 and A BATE.
Along with his wife, son, & parents he is also survived by, four brothers, Phillips L. King (Robin) of LaFonatine, Rex Aaron King (Carol) of Gas City, Kenneth Eugene King of Marion, and Joe King of Marion, a sister, Mrs. Jim (Mary Ann) Myers of Portland, maternal grandparents, Paul & Liz Goble of Gas City, and seven nieces & nephews. He was preceded in death by two uncles, Doug Goble & Mike Carroll, and grandparents, Gene & Joyce Carroll.
Services will be 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at Sunnycrest Baptist Church 2172 W. Chapel Pike, Marion, Indiana 46952. Officiating the services will be Pastor Gary Bingham. Burial will be in the LaFontaine IOOF Cemetery in LaFontaine, Indiana 46940.
Visitation for family and friends will be from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m at Sunnycrest Baptist Church in Marion, Indiana.
Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King was killed in action on 4/2/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, of Marion, Ind.
SSgt. King was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 152nd Infantry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade, Marion, Ind.; died April 2, 2007 in Amiriyah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations.
Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King, 28, LaFontaine, passed away on April 2, 2007 in Al Amiriyah, Iraq. He lived in LaFontaine with his wife, Adrian (Stepler) King and son, Daethan King. He was born to Wayne Darnell & Paula S. (Goble) King on February 19, 1979 in Marion, where his parents survive. He was a 1998 graduate of Mississinewa High School. He was serving his country in the United States Indiana Army National Guard. He worked at the Marion Armory as a Automotive Technician. He was a member of the American Legion Post 10 and A BATE.
Along with his wife, son, & parents he is also survived by, four brothers, Phillips L. King (Robin) of LaFonatine, Rex Aaron King (Carol) of Gas City, Kenneth Eugene King of Marion, and Joe King of Marion, a sister, Mrs. Jim (Mary Ann) Myers of Portland, maternal grandparents, Paul & Liz Goble of Gas City, and seven nieces & nephews. He was preceded in death by two uncles, Doug Goble & Mike Carroll, and grandparents, Gene & Joyce Carroll.
Services will be 11 a.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2007 at Sunnycrest Baptist Church 2172 W. Chapel Pike, Marion, Indiana 46952. Officiating the services will be Pastor Gary Bingham. Burial will be in the LaFontaine IOOF Cemetery in LaFontaine, Indiana 46940.
Visitation for family and friends will be from 2 p.m. until 8 p.m at Sunnycrest Baptist Church in Marion, Indiana.
Army Staff Sgt. Bradley D. King was killed in action on 4/2/07.
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va.
SSgt. Arnette was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1, 2007 from wounds suffered March 31 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed was Spc. Wilfred Flores.
Washington Post -- Jason R. Arnette, who grew up southwest of Richmond, played soccer in high school and made many friends, was a man marked by a distinctive set of goals, attitudes and ambitions.
As a teenager, he went on church-sponsored trips to Guatemala to build an orphanage and a medical center. His wife said he wanted to adopt a son of another race. And, his mother said, he had wished since age 3 to be a soldier.
On Sunday, Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va., died of wounds suffered the previous day in Baghdad when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle, the Pentagon said last night.
"My son lived and died doing what he liked doing," his mother, Michelle Arnette, said last night. "He loved the discipline and the structure."
The bigger the challenge, his mother said, "the more he aspired to do it." During his five years in the Army, she said, he served one tour in Korea and was sent three times to Iraq.
Her son, she said, was "a special young fellow" who was so friendly that "he never met a stranger." At Amelia County High School, he had been in the ROTC and had played soccer, she said. Those who played with him remained among his closest friends, she said.
At 13 and again at 16, she said, Arnette and others from Amelia's Faith Christian Church traveled to Guatemala for the building projects.
In school, Arnette was a year ahead of Shenandoah Sky Hughes; they became close while he was in the Army and married in 2004.
"He was ready to start a life," his wife said last night. "He wanted kids. He would have been a really great father."
Arnette was adventurous, a lover of sports and the outdoors, and wanted to become a history teacher, his wife said.
She said he "accepted everybody" and believed he could "connect with anybody."
One of Arnette's ambitions, she said, was to adopt an African American child because he felt it would send a message against racism.
He loved to tell stories, she said, and "he loved me very, very much."
The last time she saw him, Hughes Arnette said, was in December. It was the month of her graduation from Radford College, and he paid a surprise visit home from Iraq.
His father-in-law, Roger Hughes, said that he learned from Arnette on that visit that the sergeant "really, really did not want to be" in Iraq, although "his wife doesn't want to say that."
Arnette was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette was killed in action on 4/1/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va.
SSgt. Arnette was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1, 2007 from wounds suffered March 31 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Also killed was Spc. Wilfred Flores.
Washington Post -- Jason R. Arnette, who grew up southwest of Richmond, played soccer in high school and made many friends, was a man marked by a distinctive set of goals, attitudes and ambitions.
As a teenager, he went on church-sponsored trips to Guatemala to build an orphanage and a medical center. His wife said he wanted to adopt a son of another race. And, his mother said, he had wished since age 3 to be a soldier.
On Sunday, Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette, 24, of Amelia, Va., died of wounds suffered the previous day in Baghdad when a roadside bomb blew up near his vehicle, the Pentagon said last night.
"My son lived and died doing what he liked doing," his mother, Michelle Arnette, said last night. "He loved the discipline and the structure."
The bigger the challenge, his mother said, "the more he aspired to do it." During his five years in the Army, she said, he served one tour in Korea and was sent three times to Iraq.
Her son, she said, was "a special young fellow" who was so friendly that "he never met a stranger." At Amelia County High School, he had been in the ROTC and had played soccer, she said. Those who played with him remained among his closest friends, she said.
At 13 and again at 16, she said, Arnette and others from Amelia's Faith Christian Church traveled to Guatemala for the building projects.
In school, Arnette was a year ahead of Shenandoah Sky Hughes; they became close while he was in the Army and married in 2004.
"He was ready to start a life," his wife said last night. "He wanted kids. He would have been a really great father."
Arnette was adventurous, a lover of sports and the outdoors, and wanted to become a history teacher, his wife said.
She said he "accepted everybody" and believed he could "connect with anybody."
One of Arnette's ambitions, she said, was to adopt an African American child because he felt it would send a message against racism.
He loved to tell stories, she said, and "he loved me very, very much."
The last time she saw him, Hughes Arnette said, was in December. It was the month of her graduation from Radford College, and he paid a surprise visit home from Iraq.
His father-in-law, Roger Hughes, said that he learned from Arnette on that visit that the sergeant "really, really did not want to be" in Iraq, although "his wife doesn't want to say that."
Arnette was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, at Fort Drum, N.Y.
Army Staff Sgt. Jason R. Arnette was killed in action on 4/1/07.
Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, 26, of San Juan, Puerto Rico
SSgt. Mejias was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Fort Drum -- Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, 26, was a military police noncommissioned officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mejias enlisted in the Army in October 2001 and trained at Fort Sill, Okla., to be an artilleryman.
In March 2002, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery at Warner Barracks, Germany. He was reassigned to Fort Drum in March 2006.
While assigned to Germany, he deployed to Yugoslavia from November to December 2002.
Mejias' military education includes the Warrior Leader Course, Unit Armorer Course and the Combat Lifesaver Course.
His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Valorous Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge and the Driver Badge.
He is survived by his wife and daughter, of Fort Drum, and his parent, who live in Puerto Rico.
Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, 26, of San Juan, Puerto Rico
SSgt. Mejias was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Fort Drum -- Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, 26, was a military police noncommissioned officer assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Mejias enlisted in the Army in October 2001 and trained at Fort Sill, Okla., to be an artilleryman.
In March 2002, he was assigned to 1st Battalion, 6th Field Artillery at Warner Barracks, Germany. He was reassigned to Fort Drum in March 2006.
While assigned to Germany, he deployed to Yugoslavia from November to December 2002.
Mejias' military education includes the Warrior Leader Course, Unit Armorer Course and the Combat Lifesaver Course.
His awards and decorations include the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Valorous Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Combat Action Badge and the Driver Badge.
He is survived by his wife and daughter, of Fort Drum, and his parent, who live in Puerto Rico.
Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Specialist William G. Bowling
Remember Our Heroes
Army Specialist William G. Bowling, 24, of Beattyville, Ky.
Spc. Bowling was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Staff Sgt. David A Mejias.
Kentucky.com -- A 24-year-old Army sergeant from Beattyville was killed in an explosion southwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, military officials said yesterday.
Sgt. William G. Bowling was one of four soldiers with the Army's 10th Mountain Division who died when their vehicle was hit by a blast from a homemade bomb, according to a statement from the division's base in Fort Drum, N.Y.
Gov. Ernie Fletcher late yesterday ordered flags at all state buildings lowered to half staff in honor of Bowling.
Bowling had received a number of decorations, including the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Badge.
Little personal information about Bowling was available last night, but he was married and had one daughter and another child on the way.
Bowling wrote about becoming a father in a January 2005 blog entry on the interactive gaming Web site, 1up.com. He had returned to Iraq from a leave .
"That is really exciting. Although I am sure later down the road I won't be saying that," he wrote.
During leave, Bowling said, he had surgery on his sinuses to improve his breathing.
"In some ways that is bad though. This place doesn't smell the greatest," he wrote from Iraq.
In February 2005, Bowling labeled a blog entry "Sad Day." A soldier who had served in the Army about the same time as Bowling was killed.
"He was killed while trying to help a local out of a burning car," Bowling wrote. "A suicide bomber set himself off next to him taking two others lives."
"I am really hoping we can leave here before any more lives are lost."
Bowling's last blog entry was in August 2005. He was glad to be home on a one-month break.
Bowling, a military police noncommissioned officer, was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. The outfit deployed to Iraq last August.
A native of Beattyville, Bowling joined the Army in March 2003 and received infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. He was assigned to Fort Drum in September 2003. In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his parents.
Killed with Bowling on Sunday were Staff Sgt. David Mejias of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sgt. Eric Vick, of Spring Hope, N.C.; and Sgt. Robert McDowell, of Deer Park, Texas.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been released. The Booneville Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Army Specialist William G. Bowling was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Specialist William G. Bowling, 24, of Beattyville, Ky.
Spc. Bowling was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Staff Sgt. David A Mejias.
Kentucky.com -- A 24-year-old Army sergeant from Beattyville was killed in an explosion southwest of Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, military officials said yesterday.
Sgt. William G. Bowling was one of four soldiers with the Army's 10th Mountain Division who died when their vehicle was hit by a blast from a homemade bomb, according to a statement from the division's base in Fort Drum, N.Y.
Gov. Ernie Fletcher late yesterday ordered flags at all state buildings lowered to half staff in honor of Bowling.
Bowling had received a number of decorations, including the Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal and the Combat Action Badge.
Little personal information about Bowling was available last night, but he was married and had one daughter and another child on the way.
Bowling wrote about becoming a father in a January 2005 blog entry on the interactive gaming Web site, 1up.com. He had returned to Iraq from a leave .
"That is really exciting. Although I am sure later down the road I won't be saying that," he wrote.
During leave, Bowling said, he had surgery on his sinuses to improve his breathing.
"In some ways that is bad though. This place doesn't smell the greatest," he wrote from Iraq.
In February 2005, Bowling labeled a blog entry "Sad Day." A soldier who had served in the Army about the same time as Bowling was killed.
"He was killed while trying to help a local out of a burning car," Bowling wrote. "A suicide bomber set himself off next to him taking two others lives."
"I am really hoping we can leave here before any more lives are lost."
Bowling's last blog entry was in August 2005. He was glad to be home on a one-month break.
Bowling, a military police noncommissioned officer, was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Co., 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. The outfit deployed to Iraq last August.
A native of Beattyville, Bowling joined the Army in March 2003 and received infantry training at Fort Benning, Ga. He was assigned to Fort Drum in September 2003. In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by his parents.
Killed with Bowling on Sunday were Staff Sgt. David Mejias of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sgt. Eric Vick, of Spring Hope, N.C.; and Sgt. Robert McDowell, of Deer Park, Texas.
Funeral arrangements have not yet been released. The Booneville Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.
Army Specialist William G. Bowling was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick
Remember Our Heroes
Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, 25, of Spring Hope, N.C.
SSgt. Vick was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Rocky Mountain Telegram -- SPRING HOPE – Stephanie Vick said her husband is her heart. Now he's her angel in fatigues.
Staff Sgt. Eric Reid Vick, 25, a Spring Hope native, was killed Sunday while serving in Iraq. His vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, killing him and three other soldiers.
Vick's family described him as smart and generous. Stephanie Vick relayed her comments through her mother-in-law, Faye Harper Vick.
"He'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," said his brother, 22-year-old Milton Vick of the Justice community in Franklin County.
Vick was born Sept. 13, 1981, and from a young age proved how bright he was. He could recite nursery rhymes and knew the alphabet by the time he was 2 years old, Faye Vick said.
As he grew older, he could quote the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation and back again.
"If somebody said: 'No, no, that's not what the Bible says,' he'd come right in here and get his Bible, go back outside and turn right to the page," said Reginald Vick, his father. "He said: 'Read this.'"
Vick attended Bunn High School and N.C. Wesleyan College for a year and a half, with two years of college course credit earned from high school. In February 2002, he enlisted in the Army.
His father found out when he received a call from the recruiting office. Vick told him over the phone.
"He said: 'Dad, I've joined the Army.' I said: 'You've done what?' He said: 'I've joined the Army.' I said: 'Well, is that what you want? You sure?' He said: 'Yeah,'" Reginald Vick said.
He trained as an infantryman at Fort Benning, Ga. From there, his first assignment was to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. He was reassigned in November 2005 to Fort Drum, N.Y., as a military policeman in the 2nd Bridge Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
He completed two deployments to Iraq – from March 2003 to early 2004, and again from November 2004 to May 2005. Information provided by the military Tuesday that Vick's first deployment lasted until April 2004 was incorrect.
In between the two, he met Stephanie at a mall in Fayetteville. He told his parents some of the details of the initial encounter.
"The woman was standing there at a drink machine, and he went up to get a drink – and she was kind of crying a little bit because she just broke up with her boyfriend (of) four years," Reginald Vick said. "And she told him, and he said: 'Well, go to dinner with me.'"
She told him that she was in no shape to date and was finished with men.
"And Eric spoke up and said: 'Well, you ain't met me yet,'" he said.
They married in September 2005.
His third deployment began in August 2006, during which he was assigned to headquarters with other members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
He did not talk much about his experiences there, his parents said, although he shared something with his father.
"The only thing he told me ... he said: 'Daddy, I don't want to talk about it,' he said, 'but I will tell you this: The things you see on TV ... (those are) the good parts,'" Reginald Vick said.
On Sunday, two soldiers were killed in a roadside attack. When Vick and three other men went to respond to the bombing, Reginald Vick said, they too were killed by an improvised explosive device, also known as an IED.
Faye Vick said he had been willing to make the sacrifice.
"He did say: 'Momma, I would die for my country,'" she said.
Stephanie Vick said through her mother-in-law that her thoughts and prayers are with the other families. Reginald Vick grew emotional as he described the impact of his son's passing.
"This is the hardest thing I ever been through, and I hope to God I don't go through it again," he said. "It's just been hard."
Vick had received several decorations, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge, according to a press release from Fort Drum.
The other soldiers who were killed were Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sgt. William G. Bowling of Beattyville, Ky.; and Sgt. Robert M. McDowell of Deer Park, Texas.
Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, 25, of Spring Hope, N.C.
SSgt. Vick was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias, Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Rocky Mountain Telegram -- SPRING HOPE – Stephanie Vick said her husband is her heart. Now he's her angel in fatigues.
Staff Sgt. Eric Reid Vick, 25, a Spring Hope native, was killed Sunday while serving in Iraq. His vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in Baghdad, killing him and three other soldiers.
Vick's family described him as smart and generous. Stephanie Vick relayed her comments through her mother-in-law, Faye Harper Vick.
"He'd give you the shirt off his back if you needed it," said his brother, 22-year-old Milton Vick of the Justice community in Franklin County.
Vick was born Sept. 13, 1981, and from a young age proved how bright he was. He could recite nursery rhymes and knew the alphabet by the time he was 2 years old, Faye Vick said.
As he grew older, he could quote the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation and back again.
"If somebody said: 'No, no, that's not what the Bible says,' he'd come right in here and get his Bible, go back outside and turn right to the page," said Reginald Vick, his father. "He said: 'Read this.'"
Vick attended Bunn High School and N.C. Wesleyan College for a year and a half, with two years of college course credit earned from high school. In February 2002, he enlisted in the Army.
His father found out when he received a call from the recruiting office. Vick told him over the phone.
"He said: 'Dad, I've joined the Army.' I said: 'You've done what?' He said: 'I've joined the Army.' I said: 'Well, is that what you want? You sure?' He said: 'Yeah,'" Reginald Vick said.
He trained as an infantryman at Fort Benning, Ga. From there, his first assignment was to the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg. He was reassigned in November 2005 to Fort Drum, N.Y., as a military policeman in the 2nd Bridge Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
He completed two deployments to Iraq – from March 2003 to early 2004, and again from November 2004 to May 2005. Information provided by the military Tuesday that Vick's first deployment lasted until April 2004 was incorrect.
In between the two, he met Stephanie at a mall in Fayetteville. He told his parents some of the details of the initial encounter.
"The woman was standing there at a drink machine, and he went up to get a drink – and she was kind of crying a little bit because she just broke up with her boyfriend (of) four years," Reginald Vick said. "And she told him, and he said: 'Well, go to dinner with me.'"
She told him that she was in no shape to date and was finished with men.
"And Eric spoke up and said: 'Well, you ain't met me yet,'" he said.
They married in September 2005.
His third deployment began in August 2006, during which he was assigned to headquarters with other members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.
He did not talk much about his experiences there, his parents said, although he shared something with his father.
"The only thing he told me ... he said: 'Daddy, I don't want to talk about it,' he said, 'but I will tell you this: The things you see on TV ... (those are) the good parts,'" Reginald Vick said.
On Sunday, two soldiers were killed in a roadside attack. When Vick and three other men went to respond to the bombing, Reginald Vick said, they too were killed by an improvised explosive device, also known as an IED.
Faye Vick said he had been willing to make the sacrifice.
"He did say: 'Momma, I would die for my country,'" she said.
Stephanie Vick said through her mother-in-law that her thoughts and prayers are with the other families. Reginald Vick grew emotional as he described the impact of his son's passing.
"This is the hardest thing I ever been through, and I hope to God I don't go through it again," he said. "It's just been hard."
Vick had received several decorations, including the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman's Badge, according to a press release from Fort Drum.
The other soldiers who were killed were Staff Sgt. David A. Mejias of San Juan, Puerto Rico; Sgt. William G. Bowling of Beattyville, Ky.; and Sgt. Robert M. McDowell of Deer Park, Texas.
Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell
Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell, 30, of Deer Park, Texas
Sgt. McDowell was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Staff Sgt. David A Mejias and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Press Register -- The body of Army Spc. Robert Matthew McDowell is scheduled to return to the United States late Thursday, according to his family.
McDowell, 30, was killed Sunday in Baghdad by an improvised explosive device detonated by insurgents. The soldier's father is Robert Kim McDowell of Mobile.
"He loved the army, he truly loved it," the soldier's stepmother, LaDonna Dickman McDowell, said Tuesday. "He believed in America and fighting for America, and he believed in everything this war meant."
Robert Matthew McDowell's body is scheduled to arrive in Dover, Del., late Thursday, his stepmother said. It was unclear Tuesday where the body would be flown from Delaware.
Funeral arrangements were still pending Tuesday afternoon. The family is planning a memorial service in Mobile sometime after Easter, they said.
The soldier, who was born in Jacksonville, Fla., grew up in Deer Park, Texas, his father said.
Kim McDowell said his son had only recently returned to Iraq after being home on leave for the birth of his son, Nathan Matthew McDowell, in Evans Mills, N.Y. The enlisted man was based at Fort Drum, N.Y., and served as a military policeman. He was with the Army's 10th Mountain Division.
Kim McDowell said an Army spokesman reported that his son -- who was on his second tour of duty -- was serving as the gunner on a heavy-duty Army vehicle on patrol in Baghdad, when the explosive device was detonated.
"What he died doing is what he truly wanted to do in the very beginning," LaDonna Dickman McDowell said. "He definitely was one of the most gung-ho soldiers I've ever met in my life."
The soldier, who was once stationed in Germany, planned on moving back to that country when he returned from duty, either with another army station or on his own, his father said.
"Germany really stuck in Matt's heart," Kim McDowell said. "He loved Germany; German food, beer, wine and women," he joked.
Robert Matthew McDowell's wife, Daniella, is German. The pair met and married while the soldier was stationed in her home country, his family said.
In addition to his wife, his son, his father and his stepmother, Robert Matthew McDowell is survived by his mother, Kathy Jo Kallahan, of Deer Park, Texas; daughter Madison, of Texas; brother Michael McDowell of Pearland, Texas; four stepbrothers, Neal Dickman, Andy Dickman, both of Mobile, Tyler Dickman of Indianapolis and Grant Dickman of Evansville, Ind.; and other relatives.
Family members said donations may be sent to the Matthew McDowell Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of America, 5803 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, Texas, 77505. Donations may also be sent to the Holy Family Catholic Church at 1400 Joyce Road, Mobile, Ala., 36618.
Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell, 30, of Deer Park, Texas
Sgt. McDowell was assigned to the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, N.Y.; died April 1 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Army Staff Sgt. Eric R. Vick, Army Staff Sgt. David A Mejias and Army Spc. William G. Bowling.
Press Register -- The body of Army Spc. Robert Matthew McDowell is scheduled to return to the United States late Thursday, according to his family.
McDowell, 30, was killed Sunday in Baghdad by an improvised explosive device detonated by insurgents. The soldier's father is Robert Kim McDowell of Mobile.
"He loved the army, he truly loved it," the soldier's stepmother, LaDonna Dickman McDowell, said Tuesday. "He believed in America and fighting for America, and he believed in everything this war meant."
Robert Matthew McDowell's body is scheduled to arrive in Dover, Del., late Thursday, his stepmother said. It was unclear Tuesday where the body would be flown from Delaware.
Funeral arrangements were still pending Tuesday afternoon. The family is planning a memorial service in Mobile sometime after Easter, they said.
The soldier, who was born in Jacksonville, Fla., grew up in Deer Park, Texas, his father said.
Kim McDowell said his son had only recently returned to Iraq after being home on leave for the birth of his son, Nathan Matthew McDowell, in Evans Mills, N.Y. The enlisted man was based at Fort Drum, N.Y., and served as a military policeman. He was with the Army's 10th Mountain Division.
Kim McDowell said an Army spokesman reported that his son -- who was on his second tour of duty -- was serving as the gunner on a heavy-duty Army vehicle on patrol in Baghdad, when the explosive device was detonated.
"What he died doing is what he truly wanted to do in the very beginning," LaDonna Dickman McDowell said. "He definitely was one of the most gung-ho soldiers I've ever met in my life."
The soldier, who was once stationed in Germany, planned on moving back to that country when he returned from duty, either with another army station or on his own, his father said.
"Germany really stuck in Matt's heart," Kim McDowell said. "He loved Germany; German food, beer, wine and women," he joked.
Robert Matthew McDowell's wife, Daniella, is German. The pair met and married while the soldier was stationed in her home country, his family said.
In addition to his wife, his son, his father and his stepmother, Robert Matthew McDowell is survived by his mother, Kathy Jo Kallahan, of Deer Park, Texas; daughter Madison, of Texas; brother Michael McDowell of Pearland, Texas; four stepbrothers, Neal Dickman, Andy Dickman, both of Mobile, Tyler Dickman of Indianapolis and Grant Dickman of Evansville, Ind.; and other relatives.
Family members said donations may be sent to the Matthew McDowell Memorial Fund, c/o Bank of America, 5803 Fairmont Parkway, Pasadena, Texas, 77505. Donations may also be sent to the Holy Family Catholic Church at 1400 Joyce Road, Mobile, Ala., 36618.
Army Sgt. Robert M. McDowell was killed in action on 04/01/07.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas
Remember Our Heroes
Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas, 33, of Harrisburg, Pa.
MSgt Thomas was assigned to the 28th Division Support Command, Harrisburg, Pa.; died March 27, 2007 in Baghdad when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using indirect fire during combat operations.
Pa. guardsman killed in Baghdad’s Green Zone
The Associated Press
HUGHESVILLE, Pa. — A National Guardsman from north-central Pennsylvania was killed in Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone when a rocket exploded over his head, officials said.
Sgt. 1st Class Sean Michael Thomas, 33, died March 27, less than a year after he returned from duty in Afghanistan. He was serving with the Harrisburg-based 28th Division Support Command.
“He loved his wife, his family and his new baby,” said his mother, Diana Thomas. “He was the first person to smile and make a joke and his entire family will miss him terribly.”
Thomas’ wife, Carrie, is a sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His daughter, Alexa, is 6 months old.
The unit’s commander, Col. Jesse Deets, called Thomas a model officer and friend.
“We have lost one of our family members, and it hurts more than you will ever know,” Deets said in a statement released by the office of Gov. Ed Rendell. “Sean can be proud that we did not drop the flag as a result of his sacrifice; he would have it no other way.”
Thomas and an American contractor were killed in the rocket attack, which wounded five others, including a second soldier and contractor.
Thomas joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1998 after six years in the Army Reserve. He worked full-time at a Fort Indiantown Gap office.
He had been planning to attend Officer Candidates School in October and wanted to be a teacher when he returned to civilian life, Diana Thomas said.
Thomas was sent to Iraq last summer and is the 27th member of the Pennsylvania National Guard killed in Iraq. He was posthumously promoted to master sergeant.
Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas was killed in action on 3/27/07.
Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas, 33, of Harrisburg, Pa.
MSgt Thomas was assigned to the 28th Division Support Command, Harrisburg, Pa.; died March 27, 2007 in Baghdad when his unit came in contact with enemy forces using indirect fire during combat operations.
Pa. guardsman killed in Baghdad’s Green Zone
The Associated Press
HUGHESVILLE, Pa. — A National Guardsman from north-central Pennsylvania was killed in Baghdad’s heavily guarded Green Zone when a rocket exploded over his head, officials said.
Sgt. 1st Class Sean Michael Thomas, 33, died March 27, less than a year after he returned from duty in Afghanistan. He was serving with the Harrisburg-based 28th Division Support Command.
“He loved his wife, his family and his new baby,” said his mother, Diana Thomas. “He was the first person to smile and make a joke and his entire family will miss him terribly.”
Thomas’ wife, Carrie, is a sergeant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard. His daughter, Alexa, is 6 months old.
The unit’s commander, Col. Jesse Deets, called Thomas a model officer and friend.
“We have lost one of our family members, and it hurts more than you will ever know,” Deets said in a statement released by the office of Gov. Ed Rendell. “Sean can be proud that we did not drop the flag as a result of his sacrifice; he would have it no other way.”
Thomas and an American contractor were killed in the rocket attack, which wounded five others, including a second soldier and contractor.
Thomas joined the Pennsylvania National Guard in 1998 after six years in the Army Reserve. He worked full-time at a Fort Indiantown Gap office.
He had been planning to attend Officer Candidates School in October and wanted to be a teacher when he returned to civilian life, Diana Thomas said.
Thomas was sent to Iraq last summer and is the 27th member of the Pennsylvania National Guard killed in Iraq. He was posthumously promoted to master sergeant.
Army Master Sgt. Sean M. Thomas was killed in action on 3/27/07.
Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey
Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey, 22, of Hollidaysburg, Pa.
Sgt. Forshey was assigned to the 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky; died March 27 in Homburg, Germany, of a noncombat related illness after being medevaced out of Kuwait on March 22.
Altoona Mirror -- Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey liked the military life and, despite the daily dangers that went with serving in Iraq, had planned on making a career of it.
Tragically, the 22-year-old Hollidaysburg resident died Tuesday in an Army hospital in Homburg, Germany, leaving behind a wife, Laura, and their 3-month-old son, Benjamin.
"He was a great guy," the 23-year-old Laura, said Thursday. "He was a great husband, a great father and a great soldier."
Curtis' mom, Sharon Forshey, said her son was serving his second tour of Iraq with the 494th Transportation Company, a part of the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky., when he got sick. Within a week of finding out he had leukemia, Curtis died from a brain aneurysm, a complication of his treatment. His death occurred shortly after his wife, son and parents arrived in Germany where he was hospitalized
"We expected to go over there, fight this and come home," Laura said. Originally, Curtis was supposed to come back to the states, but doctors decided he was too sick to travel and started treatment. The State Department made arrangements for the family to fly to Germany Sunday night.
Laura's birthday was Monday, and Curtis had asked her what she wanted as a gift, said Andy Himes, a close friend of the family. Flying to Germany to see him would turn out to be more than just a birthday wish, but by the time the family arrived, Curtis was on life support, Himes said.
Himes first met the couple when they worked -- Curtis as a Kinder Ski instructor and Laura in sales -- at Blue Knob Four Seasons Resort. Himes, the mountain manager, also happens to date Laura's mom, so he’s also seen them go from dating teenagers -- they met at the mountain -- to a loving couple just starting their own family.
"Curt was someone who you would want your own kids to be like," Himes said. "He was real good kid -- a good head on his shoulders. You don't meet a lot of kids like him."
For Curtis, the military wasn't just a last resort career or a path taken on a whim.
"He wasn't a flunky who just joined the military because he didn't know what else to do," Himes said, recalling how Curtis told him he planned to make a career out of the Army and was pursuing becoming a helicopter pilot.
Even that part of his plan was further thought out than what one would expect from most guys his age, Himes said, Curtis told him that since he would only be about 40 years old when he retired from the service, he wanted to combine his passion for skiing and his training as a pilot to work ferrying skiers to remote slopes.
Laura said she took the danger of his job in stride.
"We liked the military," she said. "It's part of the job. He came home safely once."
Facing the enemy is the duty of any soldier serving in Iraq, and Curtis had did that.
"He was there fighting," Himes said. "It was just a different kind of enemy that got him."
Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey died while serving in Iraq from complications for Leukemia treatments on 3/27/07.
Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey, 22, of Hollidaysburg, Pa.
Sgt. Forshey was assigned to the 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky; died March 27 in Homburg, Germany, of a noncombat related illness after being medevaced out of Kuwait on March 22.
Altoona Mirror -- Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey liked the military life and, despite the daily dangers that went with serving in Iraq, had planned on making a career of it.
Tragically, the 22-year-old Hollidaysburg resident died Tuesday in an Army hospital in Homburg, Germany, leaving behind a wife, Laura, and their 3-month-old son, Benjamin.
"He was a great guy," the 23-year-old Laura, said Thursday. "He was a great husband, a great father and a great soldier."
Curtis' mom, Sharon Forshey, said her son was serving his second tour of Iraq with the 494th Transportation Company, a part of the 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky., when he got sick. Within a week of finding out he had leukemia, Curtis died from a brain aneurysm, a complication of his treatment. His death occurred shortly after his wife, son and parents arrived in Germany where he was hospitalized
"We expected to go over there, fight this and come home," Laura said. Originally, Curtis was supposed to come back to the states, but doctors decided he was too sick to travel and started treatment. The State Department made arrangements for the family to fly to Germany Sunday night.
Laura's birthday was Monday, and Curtis had asked her what she wanted as a gift, said Andy Himes, a close friend of the family. Flying to Germany to see him would turn out to be more than just a birthday wish, but by the time the family arrived, Curtis was on life support, Himes said.
Himes first met the couple when they worked -- Curtis as a Kinder Ski instructor and Laura in sales -- at Blue Knob Four Seasons Resort. Himes, the mountain manager, also happens to date Laura's mom, so he’s also seen them go from dating teenagers -- they met at the mountain -- to a loving couple just starting their own family.
"Curt was someone who you would want your own kids to be like," Himes said. "He was real good kid -- a good head on his shoulders. You don't meet a lot of kids like him."
For Curtis, the military wasn't just a last resort career or a path taken on a whim.
"He wasn't a flunky who just joined the military because he didn't know what else to do," Himes said, recalling how Curtis told him he planned to make a career out of the Army and was pursuing becoming a helicopter pilot.
Even that part of his plan was further thought out than what one would expect from most guys his age, Himes said, Curtis told him that since he would only be about 40 years old when he retired from the service, he wanted to combine his passion for skiing and his training as a pilot to work ferrying skiers to remote slopes.
Laura said she took the danger of his job in stride.
"We liked the military," she said. "It's part of the job. He came home safely once."
Facing the enemy is the duty of any soldier serving in Iraq, and Curtis had did that.
"He was there fighting," Himes said. "It was just a different kind of enemy that got him."
Army Sgt. Curtis J. Forshey died while serving in Iraq from complications for Leukemia treatments on 3/27/07.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger
Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 24, of South Portland, Maine
Sgt. Swiger was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 25 in Baqubah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Cpl. Jason Nunez, Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez and Pfc. Anthony J. White.
War claims another 'hero'
By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer
SOUTH PORTLAND - A 24-year-old South Portland native who was killed Sunday while serving in the Army in Iraq enjoyed poetry and was so proud of his military service that he wore his uniform back to South Portland High School to talk to students and teachers, his friends and family said Monday.
Army Sgt. Jason Swiger was the second Mainer -- and the second South Portland High graduate -- to die in Iraq this month when he and three other soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Diyala province, according to family members. Swiger was on his third tour in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"He's my hero and I will love him forever," his wife, Alanna, said Monday in a prepared statement. The couple met during a poetry reading at a coffeehouse in Fayetteville, N.C., and were married last May. They moved in with his wife's parents in Fayetteville, and Swiger began his third tour in Iraq in August.
Swiger was the third Maine serviceman to die this year in Iraq. Of the roughly 3,200 U.S. troops killed since the Iraq war started in 2003, 25 are Maine natives or have ties to the state.
The Army had not officially released information about Swiger's death as of Monday night. Swiger's mother, Valorie Swiger, said she was told by her son's wife and Army officials that her son and four other soldiers had stopped their Humvee as they traveled in a convoy between two military camps, Camp Caldwell and Camp Warhorse. Swiger and a couple of the other soldiers started to hand out candy to children when a motorcyclist approached the group and blew himself up, killing Swiger and three of the others, his mother said.
Valorie Swiger said she heard about an explosion in Iraq while watching the news earlier Sunday, but it was not until her son's wife called her shortly before 6 p.m. that she learned her son was one of those killed. The Army later called her with the news, said Swiger's mother, who was active in a campaign four years ago to display yellow ribbons on South Portland streets in support of soldiers in Iraq.
"He loved what he was doing," Valorie Swiger said. "It was meaningful (to him) because it meant we could be free and his nieces and nephews would not have to be afraid."
Swiger joined the Army shortly after graduating from South Portland High in 2000. His mother said he had wanted to join the 82nd Airborne Division since he was a boy. His uncle, Carl McAfee, retired from the 82nd Airborne after 23 years of service. Jason Swiger would sit on his uncle's front porch near Fort Bragg and watch paratroopers jumping from the planes, his mother said.
Tall and thin with sandy blond hair, Swiger liked to write, draw and sing, and to work on his beloved Mitsubishi Lancer.
"When he made his sergeant's stripes, he said, 'Gram, you can't argue with me anymore,' " said his grandmother, Elizabeth Swiger.
Swiger had three sisters and two brothers. He was part of a tight-knit group of high school friends. One of those friends, Ronnie Dahle, signed up for the Army with Swiger.
"We were inseparable," Dahle said. "We went everywhere together."
Swiger's mother-in-law, Alice Regan, said burial will be in South Portland but details have yet to be worked out.
Students at South Portland High got the news of Swiger's death over the public address system early Monday afternoon. The announcement came less than two weeks after the death of a 2004 South Portland graduate, Marine Lance Cpl. Angel Rosa, 21, who was killed during combat on March 13 in Anbar province in Iraq.
Principal Jeanne Crocker led the school in a moment of silence Monday, just as she had for Rosa. "There are a thousand students and hundreds of others, and (there was) absolute silence," she said.
Swiger was a frequent visitor to the high school after he graduated, Crocker said. Sometimes he would come to reconnect with teachers. Several times, he wore his Army uniform to address students in the military history class.
"I think he probably had some kind of a calling to come back and show and model for everyone a young person making good," Crocker said. "I knew he was proud to come back and be that person."
Swiger's yearbook entry lists his nicknames as "Swag" and "The Joker," and refers to "drawing on myself, making jokes about everything and being an all-around nutcase."
An accompanying photo shows a shaggy-haired boy in a blazer and T-shirt lunging toward the camera. Crocker described Swiger as "unique" and "extremely artistic," but said he didn't seem to find his niche until he joined the Army.
"It was clear to all of us who knew Jason well at South Portland High School that he went into the military to find and define himself, and he did just that -- he found the real Jason Swiger through military service," she said.
Crocker said the school would offer grief counseling to students and plans a plaque memorializing Swiger and Rosa.
"It's very difficult to be experiencing this twice in such a short period of time, and to realize how short our time with these young people is and how sometimes their very promising futures are cut short," Crocker said.
Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger was killed in action on 03/25/07.
Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger, 24, of South Portland, Maine
Sgt. Swiger was assigned to the 5th Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; died March 25 in Baqubah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were Cpl. Jason Nunez, Pfc. Orlando E. Gonzalez and Pfc. Anthony J. White.
War claims another 'hero'
By BETH QUIMBY, Staff Writer
SOUTH PORTLAND - A 24-year-old South Portland native who was killed Sunday while serving in the Army in Iraq enjoyed poetry and was so proud of his military service that he wore his uniform back to South Portland High School to talk to students and teachers, his friends and family said Monday.
Army Sgt. Jason Swiger was the second Mainer -- and the second South Portland High graduate -- to die in Iraq this month when he and three other soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber in Diyala province, according to family members. Swiger was on his third tour in Iraq with the 82nd Airborne Division, based at Fort Bragg, N.C.
"He's my hero and I will love him forever," his wife, Alanna, said Monday in a prepared statement. The couple met during a poetry reading at a coffeehouse in Fayetteville, N.C., and were married last May. They moved in with his wife's parents in Fayetteville, and Swiger began his third tour in Iraq in August.
Swiger was the third Maine serviceman to die this year in Iraq. Of the roughly 3,200 U.S. troops killed since the Iraq war started in 2003, 25 are Maine natives or have ties to the state.
The Army had not officially released information about Swiger's death as of Monday night. Swiger's mother, Valorie Swiger, said she was told by her son's wife and Army officials that her son and four other soldiers had stopped their Humvee as they traveled in a convoy between two military camps, Camp Caldwell and Camp Warhorse. Swiger and a couple of the other soldiers started to hand out candy to children when a motorcyclist approached the group and blew himself up, killing Swiger and three of the others, his mother said.
Valorie Swiger said she heard about an explosion in Iraq while watching the news earlier Sunday, but it was not until her son's wife called her shortly before 6 p.m. that she learned her son was one of those killed. The Army later called her with the news, said Swiger's mother, who was active in a campaign four years ago to display yellow ribbons on South Portland streets in support of soldiers in Iraq.
"He loved what he was doing," Valorie Swiger said. "It was meaningful (to him) because it meant we could be free and his nieces and nephews would not have to be afraid."
Swiger joined the Army shortly after graduating from South Portland High in 2000. His mother said he had wanted to join the 82nd Airborne Division since he was a boy. His uncle, Carl McAfee, retired from the 82nd Airborne after 23 years of service. Jason Swiger would sit on his uncle's front porch near Fort Bragg and watch paratroopers jumping from the planes, his mother said.
Tall and thin with sandy blond hair, Swiger liked to write, draw and sing, and to work on his beloved Mitsubishi Lancer.
"When he made his sergeant's stripes, he said, 'Gram, you can't argue with me anymore,' " said his grandmother, Elizabeth Swiger.
Swiger had three sisters and two brothers. He was part of a tight-knit group of high school friends. One of those friends, Ronnie Dahle, signed up for the Army with Swiger.
"We were inseparable," Dahle said. "We went everywhere together."
Swiger's mother-in-law, Alice Regan, said burial will be in South Portland but details have yet to be worked out.
Students at South Portland High got the news of Swiger's death over the public address system early Monday afternoon. The announcement came less than two weeks after the death of a 2004 South Portland graduate, Marine Lance Cpl. Angel Rosa, 21, who was killed during combat on March 13 in Anbar province in Iraq.
Principal Jeanne Crocker led the school in a moment of silence Monday, just as she had for Rosa. "There are a thousand students and hundreds of others, and (there was) absolute silence," she said.
Swiger was a frequent visitor to the high school after he graduated, Crocker said. Sometimes he would come to reconnect with teachers. Several times, he wore his Army uniform to address students in the military history class.
"I think he probably had some kind of a calling to come back and show and model for everyone a young person making good," Crocker said. "I knew he was proud to come back and be that person."
Swiger's yearbook entry lists his nicknames as "Swag" and "The Joker," and refers to "drawing on myself, making jokes about everything and being an all-around nutcase."
An accompanying photo shows a shaggy-haired boy in a blazer and T-shirt lunging toward the camera. Crocker described Swiger as "unique" and "extremely artistic," but said he didn't seem to find his niche until he joined the Army.
"It was clear to all of us who knew Jason well at South Portland High School that he went into the military to find and define himself, and he did just that -- he found the real Jason Swiger through military service," she said.
Crocker said the school would offer grief counseling to students and plans a plaque memorializing Swiger and Rosa.
"It's very difficult to be experiencing this twice in such a short period of time, and to realize how short our time with these young people is and how sometimes their very promising futures are cut short," Crocker said.
Army Sgt. Jason W. Swiger was killed in action on 03/25/07.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts
Remember Our Heroes
Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City
LCpl Roberts was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Oklahoma City; died March 24, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Funeral service held for Marine
By Sean Murphy
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — A U.S. Marine who died in Iraq just 12 days before he was supposed to come home was remembered in funeral services April 2 as being devoted to his church.
The Rev. Rob Olmstead, speaking to about 1,000 people in Eagle Heights Church, recalled Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts going on numerous mission trips, including one to Bangkok the summer before he attended boot camp to work with orphaned children. He said Roberts planned to continue missionary work after his service in the Marines.
“On that trip, something happened in Trevor’s life,” Olmstead said. “Trevor loved being a Marine, but it wasn’t his calling.”
Despite the rigors of war and the tough reputation of Marines, Olmstead said, Roberts never wavered in his faith.
“Trevor lived a paradoxical, counterintuitive, upside-down life,” Olmstead said.
Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, was killed March 24 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province in western Iraq when the vehicle he was riding in hit a roadside bomb.
He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, at Oklahoma City.
In a blog, or online diary, that he kept while in Iraq, Roberts wrote in an entry titled, “In the blink of an eye,” about how fast life can change.
“Over here, it might be a firefight or a roadside bomb that makes a normal drive a stir of chaos,” Roberts wrote. “It’s funny that the things that happen so rapidly are the ones that usually impact us the most, and the ones we learn the most from.”
The eerie way in which Roberts’ words applied to his own death wasn’t lost on Olmstead.
“Trevor was taken from us in the blink of an eye,” Olmstead said.
Dozens of Marines in dress uniform were in the front of the church and passed by the open, flag-draped casket following the service.
During the service, images chronicling Trevor’s childhood in Oklahoma City flashed on three large screens hanging at the front of the church, showing him with his parents, Chuck and Twyla, and older brother, Nathan.
Brandon Burkholtz, 18, attended the church’s youth ministry and said the older Roberts inspired him to pursue a career in the ministry.
“He looked at everyone the same and didn’t care what anybody thought about him,” Burkholtz said after the service. “He was a huge part of the youth ministry, and he did a lot more than most of us did.
“I wish I could be more like him.”
A 2004 graduate of Westmoore High School, Roberts attended one year at Oklahoma City Community College before leaving for Iraq. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in his senior year of high school.
Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts was killed in action on 3/24/07.
Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City
LCpl Roberts was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Oklahoma City; died March 24, 2007 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Funeral service held for Marine
By Sean Murphy
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — A U.S. Marine who died in Iraq just 12 days before he was supposed to come home was remembered in funeral services April 2 as being devoted to his church.
The Rev. Rob Olmstead, speaking to about 1,000 people in Eagle Heights Church, recalled Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts going on numerous mission trips, including one to Bangkok the summer before he attended boot camp to work with orphaned children. He said Roberts planned to continue missionary work after his service in the Marines.
“On that trip, something happened in Trevor’s life,” Olmstead said. “Trevor loved being a Marine, but it wasn’t his calling.”
Despite the rigors of war and the tough reputation of Marines, Olmstead said, Roberts never wavered in his faith.
“Trevor lived a paradoxical, counterintuitive, upside-down life,” Olmstead said.
Roberts, 21, of Oklahoma City, was killed March 24 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province in western Iraq when the vehicle he was riding in hit a roadside bomb.
He was assigned to Marine Forces Reserve’s 2nd Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, at Oklahoma City.
In a blog, or online diary, that he kept while in Iraq, Roberts wrote in an entry titled, “In the blink of an eye,” about how fast life can change.
“Over here, it might be a firefight or a roadside bomb that makes a normal drive a stir of chaos,” Roberts wrote. “It’s funny that the things that happen so rapidly are the ones that usually impact us the most, and the ones we learn the most from.”
The eerie way in which Roberts’ words applied to his own death wasn’t lost on Olmstead.
“Trevor was taken from us in the blink of an eye,” Olmstead said.
Dozens of Marines in dress uniform were in the front of the church and passed by the open, flag-draped casket following the service.
During the service, images chronicling Trevor’s childhood in Oklahoma City flashed on three large screens hanging at the front of the church, showing him with his parents, Chuck and Twyla, and older brother, Nathan.
Brandon Burkholtz, 18, attended the church’s youth ministry and said the older Roberts inspired him to pursue a career in the ministry.
“He looked at everyone the same and didn’t care what anybody thought about him,” Burkholtz said after the service. “He was a huge part of the youth ministry, and he did a lot more than most of us did.
“I wish I could be more like him.”
A 2004 graduate of Westmoore High School, Roberts attended one year at Oklahoma City Community College before leaving for Iraq. He joined the Marine Corps Reserves in his senior year of high school.
Marine Lance Cpl. Trevor A. Roberts was killed in action on 3/24/07.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette
Remember Our Heroes
Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, N.Y.
Cpl. Bogrette was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 22 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Lejeune Marine killed in Iraq
Marlon A. Walker, Staff Writer
A Marine from New York based at Camp Lejeune was killed Thursday while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, N.Y., died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province in Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune.
"He wanted a better life, and he chose the Marine Corps to do it with," his brother Jeffrey Bogrette, 19, said Monday from New York. "Now I feel the Marine Corps took that away from him."
Jeffrey Bogrette, who is a Marine based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said their grandparents scraped and scrounged to keep food on the table for their household, which expanded to include the two boys after their father died. It meant luxuries and even necessities were sometimes sacrificed.
Henry Bogrette was known for his straightforward personality and his regard for his beloved Camaro. He also had a penchant for nice clothes and other fancy things. He saw the Marines as a way to attain everything he wanted.
"He wanted to get out of the Marines and get a job as a state trooper," Jeffrey Bogrette said.
Henry Bogrette graduated from Herman-DeKalb Central High School in DeKalb Junction, N.Y., in 2004 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in September of that year. According to officials with the 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, Bogrette joined his unit April 10, 2005.
Henry Bogrette was less than a month into his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed.
Jeffrey Bogrette said he looked up to his older brother, so much so that he joined the Marine Corps to follow in his footsteps. Jeffrey even named his first child after his brother.
Besides his brother, Henry Bogrette is survived by his grandmother, Joan Neuman of Richville, N.Y.; and three sisters, Susie Bogrette of South Carolina, Shannon Bogrette of Wichita, Kan., and Jackie Bogrette of Massena, N.Y.
Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette was killed in action on 03/22/07.
Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, N.Y.
Cpl. Bogrette was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; died March 22 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Lejeune Marine killed in Iraq
Marlon A. Walker, Staff Writer
A Marine from New York based at Camp Lejeune was killed Thursday while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette, 21, of Richville, N.Y., died while conducting combat operations in Anbar province in Iraq. He was assigned to Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune.
"He wanted a better life, and he chose the Marine Corps to do it with," his brother Jeffrey Bogrette, 19, said Monday from New York. "Now I feel the Marine Corps took that away from him."
Jeffrey Bogrette, who is a Marine based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., said their grandparents scraped and scrounged to keep food on the table for their household, which expanded to include the two boys after their father died. It meant luxuries and even necessities were sometimes sacrificed.
Henry Bogrette was known for his straightforward personality and his regard for his beloved Camaro. He also had a penchant for nice clothes and other fancy things. He saw the Marines as a way to attain everything he wanted.
"He wanted to get out of the Marines and get a job as a state trooper," Jeffrey Bogrette said.
Henry Bogrette graduated from Herman-DeKalb Central High School in DeKalb Junction, N.Y., in 2004 and enlisted in the Marine Corps in September of that year. According to officials with the 2nd Marine Corps Logistics Group, Bogrette joined his unit April 10, 2005.
Henry Bogrette was less than a month into his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed.
Jeffrey Bogrette said he looked up to his older brother, so much so that he joined the Marine Corps to follow in his footsteps. Jeffrey even named his first child after his brother.
Besides his brother, Henry Bogrette is survived by his grandmother, Joan Neuman of Richville, N.Y.; and three sisters, Susie Bogrette of South Carolina, Shannon Bogrette of Wichita, Kan., and Jackie Bogrette of Massena, N.Y.
Marine Cpl. Henry W. Bogrette was killed in action on 03/22/07.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee
Remember Our Heroes
Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee, 20, of Quitman, Miss.
Cpl. Lee was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga.; died March 21, 2007 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Mississippi Marine killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — A 20-year-old Marine from Mississippi’s Clarke County was killed March 21 in Iraq.
Cpl. Dustin Lee died in Fallujah during a mortar attack, Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Ronnie Carter told The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.
Lee, the son of MHP Trooper Jerome Lee, was serving with the 3/14 G Battery, 3rd Platoon. He had been in the Marines since graduating from Quitman High School in 2004, Carter said.
Lee, of the Stonewall community, was scheduled to return home next month, according to www.meridianstar.com.
The Department of Defense had not yet issued a statement about Lee’s death March 22.
Fallen Marine laid to rest
The Associated Press
QUITMAN, Miss. — Dustin Lee took his final drive up Highway 513 on March 31.
Family, friends and veteran soldiers honored and remembered Lee, who on March 21 was killed during a mortar attack while serving with the Marine Corps in Fallujah, Iraq.
Ronnie Carter, a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper that worked with Lee’s father, Jerome Lee, said the past 11 days were difficult.
“I’m here to help Dusty take his last ride up Highway 513,” Carter told the standing room only sanctuary. “He and I had so much in common. I know he will always be a part of mine.”
In a resolution passed by the Mississippi State Senate and House of Representatives, Lee was recognized as an all-American boy who gave his life so that others may know freedom.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to know Dustin well,” said First Baptist Church Rev. Chris Cooksey during church services in Quitman. “But from talking with his fellow Marines, his family and friends, I can tell you he was a man of great strength, courage and unwavering faith. Life radiated from him.”
Jerome and Rachel Lee were presented a state flag by a highway patrol honor guard. Lee’s commander, Col. Chris Halliday, said Lee was a special person who fit into the Marine Corps and its commitment to excellence and dedication to the country.
“He will forever be a member of our eternal brotherhood,” Halliday said.
Under a cloudy sky, the funeral motorcade arrived at Stonewall Cemetery where about 100 people waited patiently, holding flags.
Veterans, some in their 70s and 80s, stood proud. More than 100 members of the Patriot Guard, a motorcycle organization manned by veterans of past conflicts, stood with American flags waving in a gusty wind. Teenage members of the local high school ROTC program saluted alongside seasoned officers, deputies and troopers from law enforcement agencies from across the state.
Family wants fallen Marine's military dog
Corps resists adoption efforts until German shepherd is retired
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 4, 2007 10:35:51 EST
When Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee's personal effects were shipped to his childhood home in Mississippi after his death in Iraq last spring,his family found some typical items - a laptop computer, a pair of glasses and a few photos from home.
But they also found some things not every Marine would have - several dog toys, a harness and a short, knotted piece of rope, gnawed and frayed at the ends.
Lee was a 20-year-old dog handler who spent the final months of his life with a German shepherd named Lex at his side. They were on a mission together on March 21 when a rocket-propelled grenade killed Lee. As the young Marine lay dying on a street in Fallujah, the dog nudged his handler's face, then lay loyally at his side while a corpsman treated his fatal wounds, several Marines told his family.
More than eight months later, as members of the Lee family prepare for their first Christmas since Dustin's death, they have a final request of the Marine Corps: permission to adopt their son's canine partner.
"I know Dustin would want Lex to be with his family," said Lee's uncle, Brian Rich. "They gave their son - he made the ultimate sacrifice. If it brings his family some comfort to see the dog there, then why not?"
But Marine officials say Lex is still on active duty. The 7-year-old dog was wounded in the same explosion that killed Lee, but has fully recovered. The dog is working alongside military police, assisting with force protection at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., where Lee was stationed.
The Lee family hasn't seen the dog since Marines brought him to the funeral in April.
Marine Corps command is "extremely sympathetic to the Lee family's desire to adopt the military working dog after the tragic incident that claimed the life of his handler," said Colie Young, a base spokesman. "The command will continue to support the Lee family in the adoption process at the appropriate time, if and when Lex is
found unfit for duty and appropriately screened for adoption."
Marine Corps Headquarters is aware of the family's request, and is "working the situation at their level," according to 2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, a public affairs officer in Albany. Lee was the third of four military dog handlers killed since 2003.
The laws covering adoption of military dogs have evolved in recent years. During the Vietnam War, thousands of dogs were abandoned or euthanized when U.S. troops withdrew. Virtually none came home.
For decades, the military considered the dogs to be "equipment" and had no process for adopting them after they "retired." That changed in 2000, when President Clinton signed a law allowing adoptions once the dogs could no longer perform their duties.
In 2005, Congress heard the story of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana,who suffered nearly fatal injuries and asked to adopt her bomb-sniffing dog. President Bush signed a law permitting early adoptions for the individual troops who have worked with the dog.
The case of the Lee family may be the first instance of a deceased handler's family seeking to adopt a military dog. The Lee family has begun a petition drive and created a Web site to chronicle their efforts to adopt the dog.
Lex is one of about 170 dogs in the Corps, and the canines are in intense demand. Lex "is potentially saving lives by performing his mission," Eames said.
The relationship between a dog and its handler in a combat zone is unique, said John Burnam, author of "Dog Tags of Courage: The Turmoil of War and the Rewards of Companionship."
"When that bond finally clicks, you just sort of become one. Once the handler draws down into the level of the dog's world and learns what the dog knows, he can really communicate with the animal," Burnam said. "You can see, in the case of Dustin Lee, the dog didn't get startled by the explosion and run away. The dog was wounded and
bleeding, but he crawled over and pawed to get his handler's attention."
Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee was killed in action on 3/21/07.
Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee, 20, of Quitman, Miss.
Cpl. Lee was assigned to Headquarters Battalion, Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga.; died March 21, 2007 from wounds received while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
Mississippi Marine killed in Iraq
The Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. — A 20-year-old Marine from Mississippi’s Clarke County was killed March 21 in Iraq.
Cpl. Dustin Lee died in Fallujah during a mortar attack, Mississippi Highway Patrol spokesman Trooper Ronnie Carter told The (Jackson, Miss.) Clarion-Ledger.
Lee, the son of MHP Trooper Jerome Lee, was serving with the 3/14 G Battery, 3rd Platoon. He had been in the Marines since graduating from Quitman High School in 2004, Carter said.
Lee, of the Stonewall community, was scheduled to return home next month, according to www.meridianstar.com.
The Department of Defense had not yet issued a statement about Lee’s death March 22.
Fallen Marine laid to rest
The Associated Press
QUITMAN, Miss. — Dustin Lee took his final drive up Highway 513 on March 31.
Family, friends and veteran soldiers honored and remembered Lee, who on March 21 was killed during a mortar attack while serving with the Marine Corps in Fallujah, Iraq.
Ronnie Carter, a Mississippi Highway Patrol trooper that worked with Lee’s father, Jerome Lee, said the past 11 days were difficult.
“I’m here to help Dusty take his last ride up Highway 513,” Carter told the standing room only sanctuary. “He and I had so much in common. I know he will always be a part of mine.”
In a resolution passed by the Mississippi State Senate and House of Representatives, Lee was recognized as an all-American boy who gave his life so that others may know freedom.
“I didn’t get the opportunity to know Dustin well,” said First Baptist Church Rev. Chris Cooksey during church services in Quitman. “But from talking with his fellow Marines, his family and friends, I can tell you he was a man of great strength, courage and unwavering faith. Life radiated from him.”
Jerome and Rachel Lee were presented a state flag by a highway patrol honor guard. Lee’s commander, Col. Chris Halliday, said Lee was a special person who fit into the Marine Corps and its commitment to excellence and dedication to the country.
“He will forever be a member of our eternal brotherhood,” Halliday said.
Under a cloudy sky, the funeral motorcade arrived at Stonewall Cemetery where about 100 people waited patiently, holding flags.
Veterans, some in their 70s and 80s, stood proud. More than 100 members of the Patriot Guard, a motorcycle organization manned by veterans of past conflicts, stood with American flags waving in a gusty wind. Teenage members of the local high school ROTC program saluted alongside seasoned officers, deputies and troopers from law enforcement agencies from across the state.
Family wants fallen Marine's military dog
Corps resists adoption efforts until German shepherd is retired
By Andrew Tilghman - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Dec 4, 2007 10:35:51 EST
When Cpl. Dustin Jerome Lee's personal effects were shipped to his childhood home in Mississippi after his death in Iraq last spring,his family found some typical items - a laptop computer, a pair of glasses and a few photos from home.
But they also found some things not every Marine would have - several dog toys, a harness and a short, knotted piece of rope, gnawed and frayed at the ends.
Lee was a 20-year-old dog handler who spent the final months of his life with a German shepherd named Lex at his side. They were on a mission together on March 21 when a rocket-propelled grenade killed Lee. As the young Marine lay dying on a street in Fallujah, the dog nudged his handler's face, then lay loyally at his side while a corpsman treated his fatal wounds, several Marines told his family.
More than eight months later, as members of the Lee family prepare for their first Christmas since Dustin's death, they have a final request of the Marine Corps: permission to adopt their son's canine partner.
"I know Dustin would want Lex to be with his family," said Lee's uncle, Brian Rich. "They gave their son - he made the ultimate sacrifice. If it brings his family some comfort to see the dog there, then why not?"
But Marine officials say Lex is still on active duty. The 7-year-old dog was wounded in the same explosion that killed Lee, but has fully recovered. The dog is working alongside military police, assisting with force protection at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Ga., where Lee was stationed.
The Lee family hasn't seen the dog since Marines brought him to the funeral in April.
Marine Corps command is "extremely sympathetic to the Lee family's desire to adopt the military working dog after the tragic incident that claimed the life of his handler," said Colie Young, a base spokesman. "The command will continue to support the Lee family in the adoption process at the appropriate time, if and when Lex is
found unfit for duty and appropriately screened for adoption."
Marine Corps Headquarters is aware of the family's request, and is "working the situation at their level," according to 2nd Lt. Caleb Eames, a public affairs officer in Albany. Lee was the third of four military dog handlers killed since 2003.
The laws covering adoption of military dogs have evolved in recent years. During the Vietnam War, thousands of dogs were abandoned or euthanized when U.S. troops withdrew. Virtually none came home.
For decades, the military considered the dogs to be "equipment" and had no process for adopting them after they "retired." That changed in 2000, when President Clinton signed a law allowing adoptions once the dogs could no longer perform their duties.
In 2005, Congress heard the story of Air Force Tech. Sgt. Jamie Dana,who suffered nearly fatal injuries and asked to adopt her bomb-sniffing dog. President Bush signed a law permitting early adoptions for the individual troops who have worked with the dog.
The case of the Lee family may be the first instance of a deceased handler's family seeking to adopt a military dog. The Lee family has begun a petition drive and created a Web site to chronicle their efforts to adopt the dog.
Lex is one of about 170 dogs in the Corps, and the canines are in intense demand. Lex "is potentially saving lives by performing his mission," Eames said.
The relationship between a dog and its handler in a combat zone is unique, said John Burnam, author of "Dog Tags of Courage: The Turmoil of War and the Rewards of Companionship."
"When that bond finally clicks, you just sort of become one. Once the handler draws down into the level of the dog's world and learns what the dog knows, he can really communicate with the animal," Burnam said. "You can see, in the case of Dustin Lee, the dog didn't get startled by the explosion and run away. The dog was wounded and
bleeding, but he crawled over and pawed to get his handler's attention."
Marine Cpl. Dustin J. Lee was killed in action on 3/21/07.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green
Remember Our Heroes
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green, 24, of The Woodlands, Texas
Sgt. Green was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died March 18 in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol March 15 in Baghdad.
Conroe soldier killed in Iraq signed with Army day after 9/11
He 'believed so much in our country'
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Ryan P. Green immediately took a stand to protect his country.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army. But before he signed the papers, he sought his mother's approval.
''Not because he was too young to join, but because he wanted to make sure that I was OK with that," his mother, Lynda Kagan, said in a written statement. "What he didn't know was that when I heard about 9/11 I knew that that was exactly what he was going to do."
Sgt. Green, who was on his second tour in Iraq, died on Sunday in Landstuhl, Germany, three days after he was wounded by an explosive device that detonated near his unit while he was on combat patrol in Baghdad, military officials said Tuesday.
Green, 24, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, had always been patriotic, his parents said.
''God, country and family. Those are the three words we instilled in him," said his stepfather, Craig Kagan, who also served in the Army. ''He believed so much in our country."
Green, of Conroe, displayed his pride with the word Freedom tattooed across his back, shoulder to shoulder. He also had a page on MySpace.com, where he called himself Patriot 29.
Green, who became a sergeant last year, lost part of his right leg in the explosion, Craig Kagan said in an interview. Another soldier managed to stop the bleeding, but when Green reached the hospital, doctors had to amputate his leg at the knee, Kagan said.
Green was later transported to a hospital in northern Iraq where doctors removed shrapnel from his body and performed more surgeries. Green needed additional treatment at a hospital in Germany, but he died en route by plane.
Green quickly rose in military rank because he led by example and always took the hard way, Craig Kagan said. Green was scheduled for another promotion in May, he said.
''He was very mature for his age," he said. "He didn't do stupid things."
Lynda Kagan said she never regretted her son's decision to join the Army. ''The Army made my already terrific son a better son," she said.
Green attended New Caney High School and received his general equivalency diploma.
He was involved in church and considered attending a ministry college, Craig Kagan said.
He enjoyed singing and dancing, his family said.
He also had a way with people that made them feel comfortable, his mother said.
Green proposed to his fiancée, Cassie Keating, in October. They planned to wed in November when he returned.
''My fiancé, Sgt. Ryan Patrick Green, is and always will be my hero," Keating said.
The last time Green communicated with his family was March 13 via instant messaging. He was upbeat and positive about his mission in Baghdad, his stepfather said.
''He was proud to be there," he said.
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green was killed in action on 03/18/07.
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green, 24, of The Woodlands, Texas
Sgt. Green was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; died March 18 in Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit while on combat patrol March 15 in Baghdad.
Conroe soldier killed in Iraq signed with Army day after 9/11
He 'believed so much in our country'
By RENÉE C. LEE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
CONROE — The day after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Ryan P. Green immediately took a stand to protect his country.
He enlisted in the U.S. Army. But before he signed the papers, he sought his mother's approval.
''Not because he was too young to join, but because he wanted to make sure that I was OK with that," his mother, Lynda Kagan, said in a written statement. "What he didn't know was that when I heard about 9/11 I knew that that was exactly what he was going to do."
Sgt. Green, who was on his second tour in Iraq, died on Sunday in Landstuhl, Germany, three days after he was wounded by an explosive device that detonated near his unit while he was on combat patrol in Baghdad, military officials said Tuesday.
Green, 24, assigned to the 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, had always been patriotic, his parents said.
''God, country and family. Those are the three words we instilled in him," said his stepfather, Craig Kagan, who also served in the Army. ''He believed so much in our country."
Green, of Conroe, displayed his pride with the word Freedom tattooed across his back, shoulder to shoulder. He also had a page on MySpace.com, where he called himself Patriot 29.
Green, who became a sergeant last year, lost part of his right leg in the explosion, Craig Kagan said in an interview. Another soldier managed to stop the bleeding, but when Green reached the hospital, doctors had to amputate his leg at the knee, Kagan said.
Green was later transported to a hospital in northern Iraq where doctors removed shrapnel from his body and performed more surgeries. Green needed additional treatment at a hospital in Germany, but he died en route by plane.
Green quickly rose in military rank because he led by example and always took the hard way, Craig Kagan said. Green was scheduled for another promotion in May, he said.
''He was very mature for his age," he said. "He didn't do stupid things."
Lynda Kagan said she never regretted her son's decision to join the Army. ''The Army made my already terrific son a better son," she said.
Green attended New Caney High School and received his general equivalency diploma.
He was involved in church and considered attending a ministry college, Craig Kagan said.
He enjoyed singing and dancing, his family said.
He also had a way with people that made them feel comfortable, his mother said.
Green proposed to his fiancée, Cassie Keating, in October. They planned to wed in November when he returned.
''My fiancé, Sgt. Ryan Patrick Green, is and always will be my hero," Keating said.
The last time Green communicated with his family was March 13 via instant messaging. He was upbeat and positive about his mission in Baghdad, his stepfather said.
''He was proud to be there," he said.
Army Sgt. Ryan P. Green was killed in action on 03/18/07.
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