Jeremy Campbell

Wednesday, September 14 2005 @ 07:56 AM EDT

Star-Gazette -- WELLSBORO - He wanted to be a state trooper, and own bowling lanes. He wanted to hunt with the man who raised him for five years, the man who was with him when he killed his first deer and first turkey.

But Jeremy Campbell also wanted to be where he was, in the thick of things in Iraq. And on Sunday, he paid the ultimate price.

Army Spc. Jeremy Campbell, 21, of Middlebury Center RD 2, died in a roadside explosion while on patrol near Baghdad, the Department of Defense re-ported Tuesday. It said an explosive device detonated near Campbell's Humvee.

He became the second Northern Tier soldier to die in Iraq in just over a month. Ryan Ostrom of Liberty, a National Guardsman, was killed Aug. 9.

Campbell, a native of Watertown, was a military police officer. He lived on North Road in Middlebury Township, just north of Holiday, from age 13 until he went into the Army after graduating from Wellsboro High School in June 2002.

Military officers notified family members Sunday night that Campbell had been killed during his second tour of duty in Iraq, said his aunt, Sharon Campbell of Black River, N.Y., near Watertown and Fort Drum.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.

Campbell was assigned to the 108th Military Police Co., 503rd Military Police Battalion (Airborne), 16th Military Police Brigade (Airborne), based in Fort Bragg, N.C.

"I'm still in shock," said Sharon Campbell, a manager of clothing sales at Fort Drum who deals with soldiers getting burial clothing for others. "I see it all the time. I kept telling him to be careful.

"Two or three weeks ago, he was in a big explosion," she said. "He hurt his elbow, but he didn't break it and, oh gosh, that's the last time I talked to him. He just wrote to me, and he told me he re-enlisted and he was coming back and going to Ranger school. I got the idea he was going to make a career of it."

Jeremy Campbell moved in with Aaron Wilbur and the late Phyllis Wilbur on North Road after Jeremy's mother died and his father became terminally ill. Aaron Wilbur, who now lives in Big Flats, was Jeremy's stepgrandfather; Jeremy's father married Aaron's daughter after Jeremy's mother died.

Jeremy Campbell worked for Mike Goodwin at Laurel Lanes in Wellsboro for about two years. They became good friends, and Goodwin became sort of a father-substitute for the young man.

"He worked the counter," Goodwin said. "He worked some on the machines. He was a very friendly kid, very sociable. He got along with everybody."

Campbell wanted to become a state trooper when he got out of the Army, Goodwin said.

"That's why he went into the MPs," he said. "And he kept saying he wanted to buy the bowling lanes. He wanted to be a state trooper and own the bowling lanes. He was very goal-oriented."

And he wanted to be a soldier, Goodwin, Wilbur and Sharon Campbell said.

"He was a real eager kid," Goodwin said. "He was eager to get back over there (to Iraq). He was thrilled about being in Iraq and doing what he believed in. He loved it. He knew it was dangerous, but he loved it and he wanted it."

In fact, Campbell volunteered for his second tour in Iraq, relatives said. He had been there this time since February.

"He was very pro-Army," Sharon said. "He was very gung-ho about it. He didn't even worry about going back for the second time. He just took it all in stride."

Aaron and Phyllis Wilbur took a late bout of child-rearing in stride, taking Jeremy in for the teen years and helping him grow up strong. Aaron, now 73, taught the boy to fish during trips to Pine Creek and the Cowanesque River. He taught him to shoot and hunt, and called in his first wild turkey.

"I talked to him about a week ago," said Wilbur, who was a self-employed glass blower before retiring. "He called me from Iraq, and he wanted to know if I was still going to go wild boar hunting with him in North Carolina when he got back.

"Jeremy definitely believed in what he was doing," Wilbur said. "He believed in the mission, or he wouldn't have volunteered to go back."

Last January, Campbell married a fellow soldier named Maddison, who is from the Pacific Northwest. She is stationed in Iraq or Kuwait, Sharon Campbell and Wilbur said. Neither has met her.

Teachers and others at Wellsboro High School had Jeremy Campbell in their thoughts this week.

"He was a really nice kid, and he was always respectful," Assistant Principal Steve Adams said. "He showed that he had good values."

Principal Patrick Hewitt remembered Campbell as fun-loving and focused when he needed to be.

"He was a good kid, very gung-ho in what he did," Hewitt said. "He was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, but he got things done."

Jeremy got A's from Liz Hoover in English and journalism. And he put out the school paper, the Hornet Herald.

"He put himself in the position of editor, and he did just about all the work himself," Hoover said. "He used to work on the paper during study halls whenever he had time. He just did everything for that newspaper.

"I talked with him about the future and the things he wanted to do," she said. "I'm a little surprised he went into the military.

"I wish now I had spent more time with him," Hoover said. "He always had a smile on his face."

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