Iraqi War
Soldier Obituaries
Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC) - October 25, 2004 A U.S. Marine and Charleston native who died Friday
from combat wounds was described Sunday as a "true American patriot"
by a woman who got to know him during the last few days of his life.
Lance Cpl. Jonathan E. Gadsden, 21, of Tampa, Fla.,
was injured Aug. 21 in Anbar Province, Iraq, according to the
Department of Defense. He died at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital
in Tampa. His family, some of whom live in the Lowcountry,
couldn't be reached for comment Sunday; but hospital spokeswoman
Carolyn Clark said Gadsden was "a true American patriot. "The soldier was so young and he gave the ultimate
sacrifice," Clark said. Gadsden, who was born in Charleston but most recently
hailed from Jamestown, was assigned to the 1st Combat Engineer
Battalion, 1st Marine Division and Expeditionary Force based out of
Camp Pendleton, Calif., according to the Defense Department. Gadsden was the 21st South Carolinian to die in
Iraq. "He had high hopes and expectations for himself, and
he was meeting them." This is how former and current South Carolina State
University officials remember Army 2nd Lt. Clifford "CC" Gadsden.
They also remember his continuous bright smile and unwavering
commitment to school, family and fellow soldiers. Gadsden, a married father of two, was serving in Iraq
when he made the ultimate sacrifice to his country. He was killed by
a truck bomb on April 30 while traveling on a convoy between Baghdad
and Kuwait. His funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 7, at
Lovely Hill Baptist Church in Charleston. Gadsden was a native of the Charleston County town of
Red Top. The 25-year-old, a 2003 graduate of SCSU, was based in Fort
Polk, La., with the Army's 603rd Transportation Company. He majored in mechanical engineering and eventually
joined the university's Reserve Officer Training Corps. Gadsden was
commissioned as a second lieutenant through the Army ROTC program in
August of 2003. SCSU has been noted as a national leader among
historically black colleges and universities in turning out black
commissioned officers through its ROTC program. Gadsden, however, was more than a military officer. He
was a good student and family man who former teachers say they are
sad to lose. Retired Maj. Jackie Smalls, who used to work in the
SCSU Department of Military Science, was Gadsden's military science
instructor during his sophomore, junior and senior years. He said he
also served as his mentor and, most recently, as his financial
planner. "I instructed him for three years, and I still had a
relationship with him. I'm also familiar with his wife," he said,
noting that Gadsden's wife, Erica, called him about her husband's
death on Friday night. "It's just like losing a family member. He was a very
responsible, nice and respected person. That's why it was such a
shock. It hit everybody real hard," said Smalls, who also remembered
Gadsden as a hard-working man who cared for his fellow soldiers as
much as his own family. "I was talking to his battalion commander about how
much he cared for his soldiers. He didn't really have to put himself
in harm's way, but he took the lead there. His death his a shock,
and it hurt a lot of people real deeply," Smalls said. "I've been
getting a lot of phone calls about him in the last few days because
everyone remembered him as a good trainer and mentor for others
behind him. He upheld all the values about caring for your family
and your soldiers." Smalls said everybody talked highly of Gadsden and
that he will be missed by many. Gadsden's former engineering professor, Dr. Stanley
Ihekweazu, is among them. Ihekweazu, a professor in the SCSU
Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Technology, was
serving as chairman of the department when he taught Gadsden. "He took several classes for me, and I knew him very
well. He was a good, obedient student who did everything he was
asked to do. I had no problems with him whatsoever," Ihekweazu said.
"You couldn't talk to him without him grinning or smiling. He was
just a nice, guy to deal with." The professor said Gadsden was able to get along with
anybody. He didn't see his good student having any trouble becoming
a good soldier whose leadership ability shone through the toughest
obstacles. "I am just kind of really sad and sorry to have him go
at this time. He was a wonderful guy, the type of student that I
would like to have in my class anytime," he said. Pamela Hinson, human resource assistant in SCSU's ROTC
training program office, said she also remembers the friendly
Gadsden. "I basically handled his records all the way through
the program. He would come in to talk and be friendly like he was.
He was very nice and mannerable. He was always striving and took
great pride in the things that he was doing and his achievements,"
Hinson said. Lt. Col. Anthony W. Frederick of the SCSU Department
of Military Science said he did not personally know Gadsden, who was
commissioned before he came to the university in October 2003. He
said for him to have successfully the completed the stringent
training program to become commissioned as an Army officer, however,
is an obvious indication of his talents. "Anybody who completed the leadership and training
program here ... has achieved what I consider success. I did not
know him, but I know the program's academic and leadership criteria.
There's no doubt in my mind that he achieved those because he got
commissioned. The next big major task was to lead and train
soldiers, and that's what he was doing," Frederick said. COLUMBIA -- A second South Carolina woman has died in
the war in Iraq. Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart, 22, of Ladson died Sunday in
Baghdad after collapsing while on guard duty, her mother and the
Defense Department said. "I'm falling apart," Constance Hobart,
said, fighting through tears Monday evening. "She left a daughter
that's only three years old." Hobart was assigned to Company E, 215th
Forward Support Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division, which is based out
of Fort Hood, Texas. Hobart's mother said her daughter
entered the military "to make a better life for herself." She joined
the Army roughly a year ago and had been in Iraq since early March,
said her brother, Gary Hobart. "She was smart. She was trying to pull
her life together," Hobart's mother said. "She had been to nursing
school for a year and a half. ... You know she knew she was young,
but she joined the military to pull her life together." Hobart didn't graduate from Stall High
School but instead took the GED, her mother said. She was at the
nursing program at Trident Technical College before joining the
military. Her brother Gary, who works for
Dorchester County Emergency Medical Services, said his sister was
"my hero, even before this." "We came a long way from nothing, and we
made it pretty far. It's just sad that she died at such a young
age," Gary said. "I believed in what she was doing and I still
believe in it." Hobart's mother remembers a spunky
daughter. "She was always on the go and you couldn't keep up with
her," Constance Hobart said. Melissa Hobart played soccer,
basketball, baseball, dancing and flute and loved to read.
The Defense Department says Hobart's
death is under investigation. Hobart's mother said her daughter had
fainted about a week ago in Iraq and fell on her face, leaving her
eye black and blue. "I'm mad, I'm mad because that was
already a warning," she said. Hobart will be
buried in Connecticut, where most of her family resides, her mother
said. But there will also be a service in South Carolina on Thursday
at Summerville Presbyterian Church.
U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Jerome Lemon, of North
Charleston, S.C., died in Iraq this week, only days after returning
there from leave, his family and friends said. Staff Sgt. Lemon, 42, was a convoy commander with the
Kingstree-based 1052nd Transportation Company of the Army National
Guard. He was killed when his convoy was ambushed Wednesday morning.
He left behind a wife and four children. "This is just another terrible loss, another reminder
of what a horrible war we're fighting over there, another hero who's
fallen for our country," said longtime friend state Rep. Douglas
Jennings, D-Bennettsville. Staff Sgt. Lemon had a civilian career in law
enforcement, working for the Marlboro and Darlington county
sheriff's offices and city police departments in Cheraw and
Hartsville. He joined the South Carolina Highway Patrol in 1990.
Staff Sgt. Lemon wasn't thrilled about heading back to
Iraq, his wife, Shelia, said Thursday. "He didn't want to go back, but he knew he had to,"
she said. Staff Sgt. Lemon's brother, Society Hill Police Chief
Charles Lemon, also is serving in Iraq. He is expected to return
home this weekend to be with his family.
Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC) - September 25, 2008 The next day, Taylor and his father drove to a U.S.
Army recruiting station on Rivers Avenue. Taylor knew that if he was
going to seek justice for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, he'd need a
frontline fighting position. He enlisted in the Infantry. "It was patriotism. He felt for all the people who had
been killed," his father, Don Taylor, said Wednesday. "He had an
extreme sense of duty." With the twin towers still smoldering, Matthew looked
to his father and said, "We need to go and deal with that." Taylor eventually made it to Afghanistan, where he
battled the Taliban in the mountainous terrain. He survived two
tours there before deploying to Iraq last year. Taylor's parents and wife last spoke with him by phone
Saturday. He called to wish his 5-year-old daughter a happy
birthday. But his heart sounded heavy because he hated missing those
special occasions. The next day, Sunday, Staff Sgt. Taylor patrolled in
Baghdad with his unit when shots rang out in an alleyway. Taylor was
struck multiple times by enemy small arms fire. He died in a military hospital, his father said. "He
was doing what he was proud of. We all knew that there was a good
possibility this could happen." Family members gathered at the Taylor home in Hanahan
on Wednesday, remembering the baby, the boy and the man whose
pictures line the living room walls. One of Taylor's desert uniforms
hung on a hanger in the center of the room. Taylor grew up in Summerville. He attended Summerville
Elementary, Oakbrook Middle School and Fort Dorchester High School.
His family said he was intelligent, caring and funny. He fished,
played golf and guitar and occasionally strummed blues and rock
chords for local bands. Kimberly Taylor said her son had a level head. "He
wasn't shy, but not over the top either." By November 2001, Taylor shipped out for basic
training at Fort Benning, Ga., trading his high school band uniform
for camouflage fatigues. Taylor was first assigned to the 10th Mountain
Division at Fort Drum, N.Y. The division is known as one of the
military's most deployed units. He rose quickly through the ranks and learned to wear
many hats. He later re-enlisted and transferred to a newly created
brigade of the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Polk, La. Taylor was scheduled to get out of the Army before his
deployment to Iraq, but the military extended his service so he
could deploy, said his wife, Randi Taylor. "He wasn't supposed to be
there." While 9/11 gave Taylor's life focus, his marriage and
children gave it meaning. He and Randi had three girls: Ryann, 5;
Raegan, 2; and Raina, who was born in June. "They were the achievement of his life," said his
mother. "He loved the Army, but his family came first." Taylor was looking forward to returning home from Iraq
later this year. His oldest daughter, Ryann, was counting down the
days until her daddy came home: 61. Taylor was due to leave the military next spring, and
he was nervous about embarking on a career outside the military. It
wasn't like him to fret over the future, his mom said. He had a
saying - "live 15 minutes at a time." It was a phrase the soldiers
in his unit used because they never knew what lay around the next
corner. Taylor's wife and his sister, Stefani Arnold, traveled
to Fort Polk. La., Wednesday to attend a memorial service planned
for today. Local funeral arrangements are pending until the military
releases Taylor's body to his family. Randi, who is from Goose Creek, met her husband
through her brother. She said she pursued him because he was afraid
her brother would not want them to date. "I was the aggressor." Everyone looked to Matthew to get them through tough
times, she said. "He's the one we need right now." Taylor told his wife and parents that he might die in
war. He knew it from the loss of several comrades and the close
calls he survived. On his second deployment to Afghanistan in 2007,
Taylor's unit waged a fierce battle with Taliban fighters on a
mountaintop near the Pakistan border. When one of his unit's leaders
went down, Taylor stepped up. He radioed in grid coordinates for air
support and guided in helicopters to evacuate the wounded. He was
awarded the Bronze Star for his courage that day. That night, he and his buddies broke open a box of
cigars that his dad had sent. A picture of the soldiers' impromptu
celebration rests on the Taylors' coffee table. Randi said the men in her husband's unit were like
family to him. She has found some comfort in knowing they were with
him at the end. "It makes it a little easier. He would say, 'If it's
your time, it's your time.' Post and Courier, The (Charleston, SC) - September
24, 2008 Taylor's wife, Randi Taylor, and their children have
been staying in Goose Creek with her family while the sergeant was
overseas. On Sunday, a chaplain and a first sergeant with the 10th
Mountain Division (Light) Infantry knocked on the door. "We knew what it meant," said the soldier's
father-in-law, Randy Gongre. The former Summerville resident and Fort Dorchester
High School student was on patrol in Baghdad on Sunday when he was
wounded by small arms fire and died, said Samantha Evans, public
information officer for Fort Polk, La., where the staff sergeant was
stationed. Taylor was an infantryman assigned to the division's 2nd
Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team. His parents live in Hanahan. He was the son of Don
Taylor, chief technology officer for Benefitfocus, and Kimberly
Taylor, head of the English Department at Trident Technical College.
A former band drum major for Fort Dorchester, Taylor
went to the Army recruiter's office the day after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks. "He felt like he needed to do his part," his wife
said. "He said that he needed to contribute in some way." By November of that year, he was in the Army, and the
following summer he married Randi, a 2002 Goose Creek High School
graduate. "He was about the best son-in-law you could ask for,"
Gongre said. The 25-year-old was deployed twice to Afghanistan and
was on his first tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed. He was a
squad leader. "He was a natural leader. One thing the Army really
did was it brought out all the fine points of his character. ... I
watched him mature over the years," Gongre said. "He had a lot of
fine leadership qualities. He took charge of things and got things
done. He was a good fit for the Army." "I bragged about him to all of my friends," Gongre
said. Matthew Taylor's awards include the Purple Heart,
Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal,
National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Iraq
Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Humanitarian
Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Development Ribbon, Army
Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, the NATO Medal and the
Combat Infantry Badge. Matthew Taylor planned to leave the Army at the end of
his enlistment next April. "He wanted to be with his family," his father said.
The staff sergeant is survived by three daughters:
Ryann Taylor, 5; Raegan Taylor, 2; and Raina Taylor, who was born in
June. Carolina Memorial Funeral Home in North Charleston is
handling the arrangements. Services had not been scheduled by late
Tuesday.
Charleston County, South Carolina
Genealogy Trails
Jonathan E. Gadsden - Marine remembered as
'patriot'
Times and Democrat, The (Orangeburg, SC) - May 5, 2005
2nd
Lt. Clifford "CC" Gadsden
S.C. State officials remember
former student, fallen soldier as focused, friendly leader
Herald-Journal (Spartanburg,
SC) - June 8, 2004
Army Pfc. Melissa Hobart
S. Carolina woman dies on guard
duty in Iraq
Augusta Chronicle, The (GA) - October 30, 2004
Jerome Lemon
SOLDIER DIES IN AMBUSH
Matthew Taylor
A
patriot's story Local soldier killed in combat joined Army in wake
of 9/11 attacks
Staff Sgt. Matthew Joseph
Taylor
Local soldier killed 25-year-old man hit by gunfire
in Baghdad
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