A U.S. Air Force carry team escorts Tech. Sgt. Anthony C. Campbell Jr. home.
It's just another homemade Christmas in Kentucky
Just odds and ends I fashioned with my heart and with my hands
It's just another homemade Christmas in Kentucky
Our fine and fancy homemade love, God's precious gift from up above
Make up the homemade Christmas of this poor Kentucky man.
Bill Caswell / Kin Vassy
There will be no presents for Tony Campbell this year. Only the fine homemade love of his family and friends. Please help me pay tribute to Tech. Sgt. Anthony C. Campbell Jr., 35, of Florence, KY, who died Dec. 15 of wounds suffered from the detonation of an improvised explosive device in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 932nd Civil Engineer Squadron, Scott Air Force Base, Ill.
http://www.defense.gov/...
Tech. Sgt. Anthony C. Campbell Jr.
Tony Campbell served with the Explosive Ordnance Disposal flight of the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123d Civil Engineering Squadron in Louisville, Ky. from 2004 to 2007 before transferring to the Air Force Reserve in early 2008.
He entered the active duty U.S. Air Force in 1992 immediately following graduation from Boone County High School and initially transitioned to the Air Force Reserves before joining the Kentucky Air National Guard in 2004. Prior to deployment to Afghanistan in October 2009, he served as a police officer with the Cincinnati Police Department.
http://www.kypost.com/...
Tony Campbell was killed while responding to a request to defuse an improvised explosive device ("IED"). He was a member of an Explosive Ordinance Disposal ("EOD") unit. According to the Army, EOD technicians are the Army's preeminent tactical and technical explosives experts. They are trained and equipped, to locate and dispose of unexploded ordnance (UXO), improvised explosive devices (IED), chemical, biological, and nuclear ordnance and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD).
An EOD technician defuses a roadside bomb in Afghanistan
Tony Campbell's brothers in arms remember him before his flight home
Campbell's friends tell FOX19 that he was the kind of guy who would give you the shirt off his back. They say becoming a Cincinnati Police officer was a lifelong dream for Campbell. "He just always had in his mind that he wanted to be a police officer," said Chris Webster, a friend of Campbell's.
The Cincinnati Police Department is mourning the loss of an officer they call a 'walking example of what (they) want in an officer'. Lt. Col. James Whalen says
"This one came home. This one isn't a near miss this one is a tragic event we weren't able to avoid," said Lt. Col. James Whalen. "It's given everyone a moment to pause."
http://www.wave3.com/...
Tony Campbell and family in happier times
He is survived by his parents, David and Francis Gonzales of Florence and Anthony Campbell Sr. of El Paso, Texas; wife Emily, son Ryker, daughter Jordan and step-son Devin Ruberg, all of Florence; one brother, Nathan Gonzales of Florence; a sister, Mattia Craig of Florence; and grandmother Mildred Witt of Cincinnati.
Visitation will be this Tuesday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m at the Florence Baptist Church, 642 Mt. Zion Rd., Florence, KY 41042, with the funeral to be held at 1:00 p.m. Interment will follow immediately thereafter at the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery North, 205 Eibeck Lane, Williamstown, KY 41097
What is excellent,
as God lives, is permanent.
Hearts turn to dust,
hearts love remains.
Hearts love will meet the again.
- Emerson
God Bless Tony Campbell and those he leaves behind.
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. The series, which was begun by i dunno, is 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, Proud Mom and Grandma and CalNM.
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.