Posted on 04/26/2003 4:52:49 AM PDT by YOMO
REPTON -- The death of a Repton native serving in Iraq may have been the result of an attack rather than an accident, as originally reported, a high-ranking U.S. general has said........................................ .........................................................
(Excerpt) Read more at al.com ...
The death of a Repton native serving in Iraq may have been the result of an attack rather than an accident, as originally reported, a high-ranking U.S. general has said.
Sgt. Troy D. Jenkins, 25, an Army paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division, died Wednesday while being flown to a German hospital. He had lost his left leg and fingers on his left hand on April 19 when an Iraqi child brought "an improvised explosive" to a group of soldiers. Jenkins' right leg was amputated below the knee days later.
Initial reports said the child either innocently tossed unexploded ordnance near the soldiers or was turning in the ordnance to them when the device detonated.
Jenkins mother, Connie Gibson, said military officials told her that her son threw himself on the bomb, saving the child and fellow soldiers.
According to the Associated Press, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said new information indicated that the child intended to harm the soldiers. The Mobile Register's attempts to contact Myers or a spokesman for him Friday were unsuccessful.
Jenkins was the sixth Alabamian killed in the war in Iraq, which has claimed the lives of about 130 members of the U.S. armed services.
"Troy still saw a child," said Gibson upon hearing the new report. "That sounds like Vietnam when the enemy would sent booby-trapped babies to our troops. Troy just saw a child and put his life on the line for his fellow troops and for that child."
Gibson said she is waiting to hear from Jenkins' wife, Amanda, who lives with the couple's children in Twentynine Palms, Calif., before making firm plans for a memorial service.
Linda Burt, a Repton resident and the mother of Sgt. Joshua Burt of the 82nd Airborne Division, said the news about Jenkins was "terrible" for her. Her son was Jenkins' best friend.
"We used to say we had two sons and they had two mothers," said Burt.
Repton resident Terri Carter said neighbors had been taking food to Gibson's house, visiting to offer support.
"We are extremely sad about losing a member of our community," Carter said, "But we are extremely proud of his conduct."
Carter said the people in the area are hurting for Gibson, and will hold some type of memorial for the fallen solder hailed as a hero.
"It is heartwarming to know someone thought more of others than of himself," Carter said. "We will plan something when we have more information. The Army was flying his mother to Germany to see her son, and the town was raising money to help her with expenses. She is disabled and on a fixed income. Most people here have said to let her keep the money raised and decide how best to honor her son." ................................. .........................................................
There is a little more in the article listing other state residents who lost their life in the war. May God watch over these troops and grant comfort to their families. Freedom is never Free.
I am sorry if I violated some of the posting rules about articles. someone can modify this if necessary.
It's hard to imagine an enemy so vile and evil. Those who collaborate with this enemy and those who would thwart America's resistance to it are complicit.
America must prevail, and America will prevail. However, evil will always exist in the world, and the forces of good can never relax their vigil.
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