The Decatur Daily -- BIRMINGHAM (AP) — Sgt. Jean Paul Medlin finished a stint in the Marines and then felt compelled to rejoin the military again after the United States invaded Iraq, opting for the Army this time.
On Saturday, the 27-year-old soldier from Trussville was among six U.S. troops killed in a roadside bombing in Baghdad.
Medlin, who had been a Marine sniper, was a skilled soldier and would have survived the bombing had he not been in a vehicle, said father Ronnie Medlin.
"If he had been on foot it never would have happened; he was smart tactically," his father told The Birmingham News in a story Wednesday.
Tommy Tyler met Medlin in the second grade and the two later served together as Marines. After the service, Medlin moved to Pelham and enrolled in Jefferson State Community College, Tyler said. But Medlin decided to return to the military, joining the Army, after fighting began in Iraq.