Tonight we honor the life and sacrifice of 1st Lt. William E. Emmert, the only child of Bill and Brenda Emmert of Lebanon, TN. Late Wednesday the Department of Defense made the following announcement:
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
1st Lt. William E. Emmert, 36, of Lincoln, Tenn., died Feb. 24 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when he was shot while participating in a local Iraqi Police function.
The incident is under investigation.
He was assigned to the 269th Military Police Company, 117th Military Police Battalion, Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Lt. Emmert was a platoon leader in the National Guard and a special agent for the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in civilian life. Please follow me below the fold to learn more about the life and passing of William Emmert.
Emmert grew up in Tennessee hearing about his grandfathers' experiences during the Second World War. He had always planned on enlisting in the military, and he joined the US Army the day after Operation Desert Storm began in 1991. At the time he was a senior at Lebanon High school.
1st Lt. Emmert served on active duty in the Army for five years as a counterintelligence agent, and he joined the National Guard after returning home in 1996. He also enrolled in college, and he received a degree in criminal justice in 1999. At that time he moved to Fayetteville, TN to take a job in the highway patrol. He left the highway patrol in 2007 to join the TBI where he served in the Criminal Investigation Division as a field agent for Lincoln and Moore counties.
On learning of William Emmert's death, the director of the TBI said:
TBI Director Mark Gwyn says Emmert was a consummate professional and embodied every quality necessary for an outstanding TBI Special Agent. Not only was he an excellent investigator, but more importantly, a tremendous person full of integrity, character and patriotism. He is a true American hero and will be greatly missed by all who knew him.
After the 9/11 attacks Lt. Emmert re-enlisted in the National Guard. Emmert's Guard unit was activated in November, and he had been in Iraq for about six weeks at the time of his death.
The Tennessean provides some additional information about the circumstances surrounding Lt. Emmert's death:
Two Iraqi policemen opened fire Tuesday during a U.S. military inspection visit in northern Iraq, killing Emmert and an interpreter in an attack that deepened worries of possible infiltration of security forces battling insurgents in their last major base.
The shooting at a police outpost in Mosul wounded three other U.S. soldiers. It was the fourth attack in the region since late 2007 with suspected links to Iraqi security units, which have struggled to uproot al-Qaida from strongholds in Iraq's third-largest city.
The names of the injured soldiers and their medical conditions have not been released.
On learning of Emmert's death, Major General Gus Hargett, Tennessee's Adjutant General released the following statement:
No words can adequately express our sorrow over the loss of this outstanding soldier, leader and fine young man. ~snip~ My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family, his friends and his loved ones. He died doing something he truly believed in, preserving freedom for the Iraqi people. We shall miss him greatly. ~source
Lt. Emmert is one of more than 100 Tennesseans who have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan.
William Emmert was loved by his family and friends. On Thursday, his father, Bill Emmert, said:
He wanted to make a difference. He said "Dad, I want to do something that will make a difference in this world and help people." ~snip~ Although he was a soldier, I think being a peacemaker was a great part of his character.
A childhood friend, Adam Richardson, described him as "a pure soul--the last Boy Scout." ~source.
May Lt. William E. Emmert and his translator rest in eternal peace, and may we always honor their sacrifices. Let us also say a prayer for the three soldiers who were wounded in the incident.
Rest in peace.
About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today 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. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
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, JeNoCo, and MediaProf.
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.