One was a husband and a father of three children. One was a father of two boys with a third on the way. Two had younger siblings and all four were sons. Tonight we remember four soldiers who were all these things and more. They died together on February 9 in Mosul, Iraq.
DoD Identifies Army Casualties
The Department of Defense announced today the death of four soldiers who were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. They died Feb. 9 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their vehicle. They were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.
Killed were:
Lt. Col. Garnet R. Derby, 44, of Missoula, MT
Sgt. Joshua A. Ward, 30, of Scottsville, KY
Pfc. Albert R. Jex, 23, of Phoenix, AZ
Pfc. Jonathan R. Roberge, 22, of Leominster, MA
Lt. Col. Garnet "Gary" Derby
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment which is part of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, TX, Lt. Col. Derby is the 19th lieutenant colonel killed in Iraq since the war began and is believed to be only one of three battalion commanders killed by enemy fire there, according to the Army Times.
The Times reports that the soldiers killed with him were part of his personal security detachment. In addition to the soldiers, an Iraqi translator was also killed in the explosion.
Lt. Col. Derby enlisted in 1985 as a cavalry scout in the Montana National Guard and was commissioned as an armor office in 1989. He had earned the Bronze Star with oak leaf cluster, the Purple Heart, the Army Meritorious Service Medal with three oak leaf clusters and numerous other decorations.
From the Army Times article:
“We honor Lt. Col. Derby and the members of his PSD who made the ultimate sacrifice in the defense of freedom for not only the people of Iraq but for the lives of our citizens in America as well,” Col. Gary Volesky, commander of 3rd BCT, 1st Cavalry, said during the service, according to information from Multi-National Division-North. “Of all the soldiers I have known and lost during my time in the Army, I have never lost a closer friend than Gary Derby.”
Lt. Col. Derby is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
Sgt. Joshua A. Ward
Sgt. Joshua Ward was serving his third and final deployment to Iraq when his vehicle exploded. He was scheduled to get out of the service in September and planned to be married then. Instead, he leaves behind his fiance, who is pregnant and due to deliver their son in July, as well as nine year old Joshua Jr. and seven year old Tyler.
A graduate of Needville (Texas) High School, Sgt. Ward received a football scholarship to Texas A & M - Binn College until a shattered elbow due to a car accident ended his college football chances, according to a tribute left by "Caroline" at the "Find A Grave" website. She goes on to say that Sgt. Ward "always saw the glass as half full and was very outgoing."
Ward spent his teenage years as a rodeo clown bullfighter and enlisted in the Army in 2001. His mother, Patti, told the Fort Bend Herald:
“It was his third deployment and I just knew he wasn’t going to come home this time,” Patti said. “But he would say to me, ‘You can bet your tail that if someone’s shooting at me, I’m going to be right in their face. I’m not going to go out running.’”
Patti said her son was a friendly soul who never net a stranger and was proud to serve his country.
“I begged him not to go and he said to me, ‘Mama, if I don’t go and every kid whose mother is begging him not to go doesn’t go, who’s going to help?’ He believed so strongly in making the world right for his family,” Patti said. “I haven’t slept since I found out. I sit on this porch swing all night and I’m trying to get a grip on all this and think what he would say to me.
Sgt. Ward is survived by his fiance, his two sons, parents and siblings.
Pfc. Albert R. Jex
From the Tonawanda News:
Pfc. Albert Jex's mother, Cathy MacFarlane wondered why she couldn't reach her son via the Internet when she happened upon a story on Yahoo about the humvee explosion in Mosul. At the same time, his father, Nelson Jex, was watching a news conference with President Obama who made mention of the same incident. Both parents knew instinctively their son was one of the fatalities. Their fears were confirmed a few hours later by Army representatives.
Jex had served as a volunteer junior fire fighter for the South Lockport (New York) Fire Co. and enjoyed hunting and fishing. He had worked as a carpenter after graduating high school and joined the Army when that work dried up.
The Lockport Union-Sun and Journal reports:
Jex was the top gunner on a humvee and the personal body guard for Lt. Col. Derby, the battalion commander, according to Cathy MacFarlane, Albert’s mother.
His mother told the Buffalo News "she and her son (had) spoke(n) about the possibility of his death at Thanksgiving, when Jex came home on leave from Fort Hood, Texas, where he was stationed with the 1st Cavalry Division.
'Albert would have wanted it this way,” his mother said. “He said, ‘I don’t want to come back in parts. If it happens, I want it to go all the way.’"
He is survived by his mother and step-father, his father, two brothers and a sister.
Pfc. Jonathan R. Roberge
Jonathan Roberge had been in Iraq less than two months into his first deployment when the humvee his was driving was struck by an explosive device.
His family told the Sentinal and Enterprise that Jonathan had found his calling when he joined the Army. He loved working with his hands and liked working on cars. "When he was a kid, he was always taking things apart," John Roberge said of his son. "He was always getting into my toolbox and working on things. I remember him taking his bike apart."
Roberge had been working at a car dealership, but felt like he wanted to do more with his life. He decided to join the Army. In an interview with NECM.com:
The Roberges didn't know they were to become a military family, but then one day, a little over a year ago, Jonathan came home from work and told his Dad of his intentions to serve.
Soon he was off to boot camp.
"Jonathan was so proud and he, it just gave him a purpose and he said 'Mom, I want to make a difference,'" Pauline Roberge said.
"I was just so proud of him standing at his graduation, seeing him up there and it was very honorable. I can't say enough about it. My little boy turned into a man that day to me," said John Roberge.
Roberge was the first in his hometown to die in Iraq and the first to die in combat since Vietnam. He is survived by his mother, father, two sisters and a brother.
Shakespeare wrote:
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers -- Henry V
Rest in peace, Lt. Col. Derby, Sgt. Ward, Pfc. Jex and Pfc. Roberge. May your families find comfort in their memories of you.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I Got the News Today (IGTNT) is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one.
Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, greenies, blue jersey mom, chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, SpamNunn, a girl in MI, and me, JeNoCo.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.