Tonight we honor the memory of two soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan earlier this week. They are Spc. Levi E. Nuncio, a medic from Virginia, and Pfc. Joshua L. Jetton from Florida, an infantryman. Both were based at the Schofield Barracks on Oahu in Hawaii.
The purpose of the I Got the News Today series is 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 is currently maintained by Sandy on Signal, monkeybiz, noweasels, blue jersey mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, roses, SisTwo, a girl in MI, Spam Nunn, JeNoCo, Janos Nation, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in KY, maggiejean, racheltracks, and Jax Dem.
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.
On Thursday the Department of Defense announced the following:
Pfc. Joshua L. Jetton, 21, of Sebring, Fla., died June 20 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Joshua Jetton was a native of Mooresville, Indiana and a 2008 graduate of Mooresville High School. Shortly after his graduation, Jetton moved to Florida where his father owned a home. He had attended Sebring High School in Florida for a few months in 2007, and it was there that he met his future wife, Alicia, class of 2010. Pfc. Jetton enlisted in the Army in August of 2010, and he was deployed to Afghanistan in April. He married Alicia in March of this year, right before his deployment to Afghanistan. His best friend, Alex Pelham, became a minister so that he could perform the wedding service. Alicia is expecting twins at the end of August, and her baby shower was held last weekend. She was notified of her husband's death on Monday night.
A close friend, Thomas Schaller remembers Pfc. Jetton with:
pride, affection and great sorrow.
"He was really funny," Schaller said during a telephone interview with the News-Sun Thursday. "He loved to have fun. He was the kind of person who could make you laugh."~source
Lt. Col. Daniel Wilson, commander of the 2nd "Wolfhound" Battalion, reported Jetton's death on the battalion's Facebook page:
"It is with deep sorrow that I must inform you … of the loss of one of our Wolfhounds," Wilson posted. "Pfc. Joshua Jetton from B Company was killed in action on 20 June, 2011. Our most sincere condolences go out to his family, and our hearts go out to them in their time of grief."~source
A memorial fund has been set up to help support Jetton's family, and a childhood friend, Cotton Long, is trying to organize a memorial concert in his honor.
“It was just total shock,” agreed Colton Long, a friend of Jetton’s since the two were in third grade together. “I just couldn’t believe it. It’s still hard to believe. We were going to do the buddy thing and [enlist in the military together], but I had a baby and it kind of held me back from doing that. I still supported him in what he was doing, though. He was so happy he was joining and going to travel the world and explore everything out there. He was just really excited about it, and I was too.” ~source
Thank you, Pfc. Joshua Jetton, for your selfless service to our nation. Our prayers are for your wife and your children who will be born in August. Rest in peace, brave soldier.
On Thursday, the Department of Defensealso made the following announcement:
Spc. Levi E. Nuncio, 24, of Harrisonburg, Va., died June 22 in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Spec. Nuncio was an Army combat medic who was on his first tour of duty in Afghanistan at the time of his death. Nuncio joined the Army in September of 2009.
Combat medics (also known simply as medics) are trained military personnel who are responsible for providing first aid and frontline trauma care on the battlefield. They are also responsible for providing continuing medical care in the absence of a readily available physician, including care for disease and battle injury. Combat medics are normally co-located with the combat troops they serve in order to easily move with the troops and monitor ongoing health. ~source
Spc. Nuncio had planned to return home and become a dentist. His girlfriend, Donnie Widdowfield, says that he loved being a medic.
Widdowfield says the last time she saw him in person was in April when she drove him to the airport as he prepared to deploy.
Widdowfield said, "He gave me a hug and he just looked so sad when he left. He was walking out the door and you could see the plane in the background, and he just stopped and he looked at me and he was like, you know, I love you but this is my job and I have to go. Then he just went." ~source
H/T to operculum for the additional information.
His military decorations and honors include:
the Army Commendation Medal, two Purple Hearts, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, the NATO medal, National Defense Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Combat Medical Badge and the Army Service Medal. ~source
Thank you, Spc. Nuncio, for your service to our country. Special thanks for the care you gave to the other members of our military serving in Afghanistan. Rest in peace.
Poppies are the universal symbols of remembrance. May we always honor the service and sacrifice of these two brave men. May their families fine comfort and solace in their memories.