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Huntsville mourns the loss of a hero
June 4, 2009 by Nicki Faulk
Our thoughts and prayers go out to SSG Hall’s loved ones:
A Huntsville native and Army soldier died serving his country.
SSG Jeffrey Hall of Huntsville was in Afghanistan when he was killed in a roadside bombing. WAFF 48 News was told Hall was a platoon leader and one of three soldiers killed in the IED attack.
This wasn’t Hall’s first tour of duty in Afghanistan. He’s described as a man of high character and morals, and as a decorated soldier who will be greatly missed by his community.
Hall attended Westminster Christian Academy his freshman year of high school and was enrolled at Grissom High School from 1997 to 1998. He spent the next two years up until graduation at Huntsville Christian Academy.
“He’s left a rich deposit into my life personally,” said pastor Dr. Reggie Whitton. “I remember him as if I’d seen him yesterday.”
Whitton recalled the first day he met hall.
“I asked him, ‘What do you want to do with your life after graduation?’ And he immediately said, ‘I’m going to join the Army.’”
On Wednesday Whitton scanned the handwritten student application Hall filled out, where he said Jesus was his favorite character in the bible.
“One of the questions I asked him was, ‘What do you do on weekends?’ He said, ‘I visit my grandparents, who are sick. and I help them with their household things and their yardwork.’”
Hall attended a community college in Syracuse and enlisted in the Army, where he made his way up to a Ranger, one of the most elite and dangerous groups in combat.
His family called his loss one from which they’ll never recover, saying the United States has lost a great soldier and son. He was also a husband and father of a 1-year-old little girl. Finally, he is a hero who many will remember for his dedication and ultimate sacrifice.
“If I could speak to him personally I would just embrace him and tell him how proud and thankful I am for him and of him,” Whitton said. “He’s a hero.”
Walker County mourns loss of a hero
January 15, 2009 by Nicki Faulk
Our thoughts and prayers go out to Private McCune’s loved ones:
Gibson, who still lives in Walker County, said after her son graduated from high school she asked him to wait a year before making a final decision about enlisting. Even though he waited, she said he never wavered from wanting to serve his country.
Since deploying to Iraq, his few e-mails home were short and sweet, his mother said.
“I’m okay, and I love you,” he would write.
“He was fired up. He loved it. There was nothing about the Army that Sean didn’t love,” his mother said. She said her son wanted to become an Army Ranger.
Family members remembered McCune as a loving son and brother, who loved to make people laugh.
“He was mischievous to a fault. Whatever he could do to make somebody laugh, that was Sean,” Gibson said.
McCune loved joking around with his sisters — Amber McCune, 23; Natasha Gibson, 17; and Vicki Gibson, 11.
“He was a best friend. He would be there no matter what you needed, and he would make you laugh until your stomach hurt,” Amber McCune said.
“He was always good to talk to because he would listen to you about anything,” Natasha Gibson said.
Funeral arrangements for McCune have not been announced.
Newly tabbed Ranger returns to Iraq
January 9, 2009 by Nicki Faulk
In The Tuskegee News this morning is a story featuring an Army soldier who’s recently completed his Ranger training and has returned to Iraq:
Less than two years after almost losing his life in Iraq, Roland “Bear” Vaughan Jr. of Tuskegee has been reassigned to the war-torn country. Not only is he back in Iraq, Vaughan is proudly wearing the famed Ranger tab after completing training for the elite U.S. Army status in late 2008.
Congratulations, Bear!
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