 The Virginian-Pilot -- A National Guardsman from Norfolk was killed Sunday in Iraq, the Defense Department said Tuesday night.
Staff Sgt. Jeremiah E. McNeal, 23, died of wounds he suffered in Baghdad when a vehicle he was in came into contact with an improvised explosive device, a Defense Department statement said.
McNeal was assigned to the 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command of the Virginia Army National Guard in West Point.
His death was the third in Iraq for the company.
Spc. David E. Lambert, 39, of Cedar Bluff, Va., was killed Oct. 26 by an improvised explosive device.
Four other soldiers were injured in that explosion the day before. One of them, Sgt. Derek R. Banks, 24, of Newport News, died Nov. 14.
McNeal’s specialty was as a combat engineer, the Virginia National Guard said in a statement.
“He was part of our brotherhood that can never be replaced,” Capt. Beau Mason, the commander of the 237th Engineer Company, said in the statement. “Our mission is dangerous, yet Staff Sgt. McNeal faced it with a cheerful smile and alleviated the fears of many soldiers solely through his presence. It will be impossible to fill that gap that has been left through the loss of Staff Sgt. McNeal.”
National Guard staff are meeting with McNeal’s family and making resources available to them. |
I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.
"Liberty Or Death"(276th Engrs Motto)