About the 5 fallen soldiers
Staff Sgt. Gary W. Jeffries, 37, Kernville, Texas
A big Texan with a big Texas drawl, Gary Jeffries was a teller of tall tales and a wizard of sorts on the roads of Iraq.
A three-tour Iraq veteran, Jeffries could almost smell roadside bombs, comrades said.
“He could sniff out IEDs like a bloodhound,” said Sgt. James Luce, who served in Jeffries’ platoon.
Soldiers gave Jeffries a hard time about his age. They joked about finding his walker on a battlefield and accused him of being a Spanish-American War veteran.
But the slow-talking sergeant took it all in stride.
“He kept us calm out there,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Houser.
He pulled off a joke or two of his own — in December he gave the platoon a laugh by sticking a full bag of potato chips in his roommate’s pillowcase at a camp in Baghdad.
He told Army stories often and at length. The soldiers around him loved it.
“It would be the same story, told six different ways,” Houser recalled.
He talked often of his children, daughter Sierra and son Zachary.
His goal after Iraq was to get his son a Jeep.
He also talked about his faith, especially in the days before he died.
“He said, ‘You’re doing the Lord’s work out there,’” said 1st Lt. Francisco Hernandez.
Jeffries was an expert at bringing young soldiers along, teaching them the ins and outs of a rig he loved, the M-2 Bradley.
“He was the best Bradley commander we had,” said Sgt. 1st Class Lloyd Lane.
Sgt. James E. Craig, 26, Hollywood, S.C.
It’s not often a hard-nosed infantry sergeant such as James Craig gets described this way: “He was a teddy bear,” said Sgt. Gary Dishroon, who served in Craig’s platoon.
Craig wasn’t a pushover. His standards were as exacting as they come. This about more than his military deportment, though.
“He was by far the nicest guy I ever met in my life,” said Sgt. James Luce. “You could give him crap all day, and the minute you needed something, he was still there for you.”
Craig talked often about his wife, Natalie.
The two had met online in 2006, during Craig’s second tour of duty in Iraq.
Their romance blossomed.
“They were madly in love,” Dishroon said.
He was a bit straight-laced and could get drunk on a single glass of beer. But he was one of the guys in his platoon.
What really endeared Craig to his comrades was the amazing depth of his knowledge.
“He was one of the most book-smart guys I’ve ever met,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Houser.
And Craig worked hard to pass everything he knew on to a younger generation of soldiers.
“Every time I saw Sgt. Craig, he was teaching somebody something,” 1st Lt. Francisco Hernandez said.
“He had a lot of pride in everything he did,” said Sgt. Tyler Daly.
Cpl. Evan A. Marshall, 21, Athens, Ga.
The easiest question in the platoon is “Who was Evan Marshall’s best friend?”
The answer: Everybody.
Marshall got the honor by giving more than he took to everyone he met.
“He would let guys borrow his car for days at a time,” said Sgt. Tyler Daly. “If you needed money, he would say ‘Here, take my money.”
Leaders liked Marshall because he worked to keep morale high.
“He was always smiling and joking,” said Sgt. 1st Class Lloyd Lane. “He was never down.”
Sgt. Gary Dishroon said Marshall wasn’t a clown, though.
“He was an intelligent type, so his one-liners were over people’s heads sometimes,” Dishroon said.
He was outgoing to a point.
“He was shy around girls,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Houser, remembering several attempts by platoon members to fix up Marshall on dates.
Marshall, who was on his second Iraq tour, is survived by his parents Andrew and Sheila Marshall, and a sister, Alice.
Spc. Brandon A. Meyer, 20, Orange, Calif.
Brandon Meyer didn’t get the usual trouble new soldiers face in the platoon.
Leaders looked for faults to razz Meyer about — an untucked shirt or a dirty rifle — so they could welcome him with a proper lecture on how to be a soldier.
But Meyer, who joined the Army in January 2007, didn’t give them an opening.
“He was an excellent soldier,” said 1st Lt. Francisco Hernandez. “If we had an Army of soldiers like Meyer, we could win the war easily.”
Meyer was a newlywed and talked often of his wife, Caitlyn. Friends say they thought Meyer would be as good at being a husband as he was at being a soldier.
His positive attitude and drive to excel made him popular in the platoon.
“Everyone wanted to hang out with him,” said Sgt. Richard Augafa.
He was a deeply spiritual son of a pastor and a gifted athlete who frequently bested his buddies on the basketball court or baseball diamond.
He passed up a college baseball scholarship to join the Army, Augafa said.
“He never bragged about it,” Sgt. Tyler Daly said.
Pfc. Joshua Young, 21, Riddle, Ore.
The newest soldier in the platoon, Joshua Young was determined to make his mark.
“He was a good soldier, he always wanted to go outside the wire,” said Sgt. Richard Augafa, remembering how disappointed the private would be when he was left off the roster for a combat mission.
Young had gone to college in Oregon and was the platoon’s resident computer expert. In Iraq, he was called on frequently by his comrades to help untangle software glitches and Internet snarls. They marveled at his ability to type on two keyboards simultaneously.
“He was so smart that one time I asked him why he chose the infantry,” said Sgt. Tyler Daly. “He wanted to be on the ground making a difference.”
Young, who joined the Army in May 2007, was still learning some soldier skills. His comrades laugh about their adventures in teaching him how to operate an M-2 Bradley rig.
“He was the worst driver I’ve ever seen,” said Sgt. James Luce.
But it was clear to everyone that Young would focus on every task until he could do it without fault.
“He would always ask, ‘How am I doing? Is there something I can improve on?” said Sgt. Matthew Houser.
Young had a corny sense of humor and loved his parents, Albert Young and Dawyna Fouts.
And he left no doubt as to what he wanted in the future, Sgt. 1st Class Lloyd Lane said.
“He wanted to be that guy who got things done.”
CONTACT THE WRITER: tom.roeder@gazette.com
