POW-MIA  United States  United Kingdom  Denmark  Bulgaria  Poland  Spain  Ukraine  Italy  Thailand  Estonia  El Salvador  Netherlands  Slovakia  Latvia  Hungary  Australia  Kazakhstan  Fiji  Romania  Canada  South Korea
   The Iraq Page
 
Remembering Those who Lost Their Lives
in the Iraq War of 2003 - 2006
 
 
 Welcome to The Iraq Page Friday, March 19 2010 @ 06:09 PM MDT  
 Home  :  Contribute  :  Directory  :  Web Resources  :  List of War Dead  :  Printable List of Dead  :  About the Iraq Page  
Articles
Home
Operation Enduring Freedom
Individuals Missing (1)
Individuals US (4353)
Individuals GB (164)
Individuals Italy (32)
Individuals Spain (18)
Individuals Poland (17)
Individuals Ukraine (9)
Individuals Bulgaria (8)
Individuals Denmark (7)
Individuals El Salvador (5)
Individuals Australia (2)
Individuals Slovakia (2)
Individuals Netherland (2)
Individuals Latvia (2)
Individuals Estonia (2)
Individuals Romania (3)
Individuals Czech Republic (1)
Individuals South Korea (1)
Individuals Georgia (4)
Individuals Canada (1)
Individuals Fiji (1)
Individuals Kazakhstan (1)
Individuals Hungary (1)
Individuals Azerbaijan (1)
Individuals Thailand (1)
General News (158)
Site Index
Who's Online
Guest Users: 10
Ads
User Functions
:

:

Don't have an account yet? Sign up as a New User
Lost your password?

Justin Estes

    
Friday, March 09 2007 @ 08:37 AM MST
Contributed by: tomw
Views: 1,321
Individuals USTodays THV -- It's another day at Oden High School. But on this day, students pay special attention to the graduation photo from 2000. That's the year Justin Estes graduated and eventually decided to join the Army.

He was killed in Iraq just two weeks before he was due to come home. He was 25. He lived in Montgomery County in the small community of Sims.

“We all remember him playing basketball and riding his motorcycle and things he used to do to get in trouble, and he found a lot of it. But he was a good kid," says Justin's big sister Kelli Estes.

She says Justin was tall and the center of the basketball team. Justin's name is on the banners in the gym honoring their basketball accomplishments. Kelli says Justin loved movies and could quote lines from them. He was funny and quick-witted.

Kelli says, “And he got out of so much trouble with my mom because he would just make her laugh. She'd say something about his grades and he'd say, ‘Pack your bags momma, we're going on a guilt trip.’ And she'd start laughing at him and he never got in trouble. And I would be like I would be in so much trouble if that was me.”

“As we were growing up, we played army and stuff as kids and he loved it,” she recalls.

Steven Gibbs and Justin were best friends growing up. He says it was hard to hear that his boyhood friend had been killed in Iraq.

He says, “It hit me kind of hard at first. I took it pretty rough. I started thinking about why he was over there and realized, you know, that that is what he wanted to do. That's what he was meant to do.”
 
What's Related

Story Options

Trackback

Trackback URL for this entry: http://iraq.pigstye.net/trackback.php/JustinEstes

No trackback comments for this entry.
Justin Estes | 3 comments | Create New Account
The following comments are owned by whomever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Justin Estes
Authored by: anonymous on Friday, March 09 2007 @ 06:51 PM MST
Justin,
I would like to say thank you to you and the other soldiers from your unit(2/505th PIR) who were also killed in that attack for your service and sacrifice for our Country. And to your family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

Airborne All The Way!
Justin Estes
Authored by: anonymous on Monday, March 12 2007 @ 10:30 AM MDT
I served with Justin in Macedonia and Germany in the 1st Battalion, 33rd Field Artillery Regiment. As a Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) crewman, was a good soldier and a good man. In Macedonia he was on the night shift and would spent four to eight hours in a guard tower, looking out at open fields. I was responsible for checking on the soldiers in the guard towers, making sure they had what they needed- and were awake. Justin would always be calmly standing there, often smoking a cigarette. We would chat for 10 minutes and I would move on to the next tower. I always enjoyed talking to him.
He was mature for his age and rank, and so when we returned from Macedonia, Justin was chosen to lead his peers. He was appointed to the rank of corporal and put in charge of several junior soldiers and their ammunition trucks.
During his first Iraq tour (Feb 2004-Feb. 2005) Justin and a friend decided to change jobs and become infantrymen. He left for the 82nd Airborne Division and this was the last I had heard of him until last week.
I am sorry Justin died. His family loved him and was proud of him. People say "at least he died doing what he loved," and there is truth in that. Justin loved being a soldier. He re-enlisted as an infantryman to be closer to the fight, and no doubt he had done much good in Iraq before his untimely death.
I will remember Justin as an intelligent, lanky, conscientious, chain-smoking, witty soldier- a direct descendant of the guys we saw in "Band of Brothers." Guys like him made it fun to be in the Army.
God bless you, Staff Sergeant Estes. Thanks for being over there and doing your part to protect America.
Mark Davison
Former U.S. Army officer
Justin Estes
Authored by: anonymous on Thursday, March 15 2007 @ 02:23 PM MDT
I just wanted to say thank you to Justin for what he did and died for. For us all. I remember him and Joey coming into the movie store I worked at when he was still in High school. They were nuts and always made me laugh. I also want to let his family know I am so sorry for their loss. I wish I could do something to ease their pain but no words could ever be enough. I guess just Thank You is all I can say.
Lillian Farmer
Mt. Ida, Montgomery County, AR
 Copyright © 2010 The Iraq Page
 All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners.		 Powered By Geeklog 
Created this page in 0.42 seconds