DoD Identifies Army Casualties

The Department of Defense announced today the death of three soldiers who were supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. They died Aug. 1 in Mushan Village, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked their patrol with improvised explosive devices and rocket-propelled grenades. They were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.

Killed were:

Cpl. Jonathan M. Walls, 27, of West Lawn, Penn.;

Pfc. Richard K. Jones, 21, of Person, N.C.; and

Pvt. Patrick S. Fitzgibbon, 19, of Knoxville, Tenn.

 Richard's mother, Franceen Jones, has worked with me for years in our emergency department. She is a plain spoken, hard working, to-the-point emergency department secretary and ER technician. She handles the telephone calls, transports patients, does EKG's, holds children while they or their parents are being treated, makes her co-workers laugh, and does her job and the work of two others. She does this four to five nights a week, working 8 or 12 hours shifts without complaint. She responds instantly to any legitimate request, and is extremely dependable. She was so proud of her son, and he called her whenever he could after he was deployed. He had been in Afghanistan for less than two months, and this was his first deployment. She often talked to me of him going to Ranger School, and kept asking me for tips to pass along to him on airborne training, sniper school, and anything else I had experience with during my time in the Army. She is a proud mother, who knows she will never see her only son alive again. She is now a Gold Star mother, and I will do anything I can to honor her and her son.

Richard Jones' funeral will be held sometime next week in the little town of Roxboro, North Carolina. I will be there, in my suit with my American Legion Cap and parachutist's wings lapel pin. If asked, I will be a pall bearer. I will honor his memory, and the memory of his combat buddies, CPL Jonathan Mills and PVT Patrick Fitzgibbon, who died with him. And I will be honored to be his mother's friend and co-worker, and hopefully my wife and I can give her some comfort in this most difficult of times. Our children our not supposed to die before we do, but when they die in the defense of our country and the ideals we hold dear, we know they did not die in vain. Please pray for my friend, Franceen Jones, and know that Fiddler's Green will be welcoming three more heros. God bless them, and all their compatriots in our Armed services, and the Armed services of the free world in our fight against tyranny. 

As I get older, it is the deaths of the youngsters that strike me the hardest. I am resigned to fact that I will one day die, (but not passively, by God!) but i hope that I can do as much for my God, my family and friends, and my Country as possible before that day comes. Maybe I can destroy as much evil as possible, so my children and grandchildren don't have to fight battles I could have prevented.

Alan Briley, RN
Former Paratrooper, 82nd Airborne Division