Bob Inglis

SSGT Jerome Lemon, USA (SCNG), 42 North Charleston, S.C.

SSGT Jerome Lemon, USA, SCNG, assigned to the 1052nd Transportation Company, South Carolina Army National Guard, Kingstree, South Carolina, was killed Oct. 27, 2004 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his military vehicle in Balad, Iraq. Jerome graduated from the SC Highway Patrol Academy in 1990 and was serving South Carolina’s Highway Patrol when he was deployed. He also has served the Marlboro and Darlington county sheriff’s offices and the Hartsville and Cheraw police departments. Jerome’s widow and mother were presented his posthumous Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Good Conduct medals.

Lance Cpl. David P. Lindsey, USMA, 20, Spartanburg, S.C.

Lance Cpl. David P. Lindsey, assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, died May 25, 2007 from a non-hostile incident in Habbaniyah, Iraq. Lindsey graduated from Spartanburg High School in 2005 and joined the Marines in October of that year. He had been stationed in Iraq as an infantryman with the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, since early January. He was scheduled to return home in August. Lindsey was 6 years old when he went to live with the Bishop family in Spartanburg, because his biological family was unable to take care of him. The family ended their last phone call with Lindsey the way they always did. “We say we love you but we also say ‘be there,’ as in ‘be in heaven,’ and he is there,” Lindsey’s 25-year-old sister Shawna Cowart said.

PFC Vorn J. Mack, USA, 19 Orangeburg, S.C.

PFC Vorn J. Mack, USA, assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, Fort Carson, Colo., died Aug. 23, 2003, when he drowned in the Euphrates River. The computer analyst graduated in 2002 from Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School. Though small in stature, standing just 5-foot-3 and 115 pounds, “he was a child with a large heart,” according to his aunt, Brinder Hicks. Vorn joined the Army Reserve his senior year, enlisted before graduation and left town shortly after receiving his diploma. He enjoyed swimming and playing Dungeons and Dragons and Monopoly.

Sgt. Danny E. Maybin, USA, 47 Columbia, S.C.

Army Master Sgt. Danny E. Maybin, 47, of Columbia, S.C.; assigned to Headquarters, U.S. Forces Command, Fort McPherson, Ga.; died Aug. 7, 2008 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, as the result of a non-combat-related incident. Answering the call of his country, he left his family and home in Columbia to serve in Kuwait; and lost his life at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, while supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sergeant Maybin has been named a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor's Palmetto Patriot Award.

Marine Corps Capt. Daniel G. McCollum, 29 Irmo S.C

Captain Daniel G. McCollum, USMC, assigned to Marine Aerial Transport Refueler Squadron 352, based at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar California, died in a refueling tanker crash, on Jan. 9, 2002 in the mountains of Pakistan. He was a valiant young Marine aviator who friends say always had a joke to share, adored his wife, and eagerly awaited the birth of their first child, due July 4, 2002. The son of a Vietnam veteran and grandson of two WWII vets, he spent his childhood and teen-age years in Irmo, graduating from Irmo High School in 1992. He joined the Marines in 1993 and became an officer after graduating from Clemson University in 1996. Three years later, he became a pilot. He moved to San Diego a year ago and joined the Raiders. On Dec. 7, a day after his 28th birthday, he was deployed to the war in Afghanistan.

PFC Spence A. McNeil, USA, 19 Bennettsville, S.C.

PFC Spence A. McNeil, USA, assigned to B Battery, 2nd Battalion, 43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment at Fort Bliss, Texas, died March 8, 2003 from injuries sustained in vehicle accident March 3 near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He completed basic training at Fort Jackson in Columbia before finishing advanced training at Fort Hood in Texas. A 2002 graduate of Marlboro County High School, Spence was a member of the school’s 2002 state championship football team and was also a member of the wrestling team.

SPC Jason L. Moski, USA, 24 Blackville, S.C.

Army Spc. Jason Moski, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 1st Field Artillery, Fort Riley, Kansas was killed February 25, 2005, when an improvised explosive device detonated while he was on dismounted patrol in Taji, Iraq. He was a 1999 graduate of Wagener-Salley High School and played football for the War Eagles. He also had a great affinity for music and played the drums. “He loved music,” his pastor said. “He said you’re not listening to music unless you absorb it.” The most important things in the world to Jason were his wife and daughter, Hollie and Haley.

Maj. Edward J. Murphy, USA, 36 Charleston, S.C.

Maj. Edward Murphy, assigned to the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Camp Ederle, Italy, was killed April 6, 2005, when the CH-47 helicopter in which he was riding crashed in Ghazni, Afghanistan. Edward was a 1987 graduate of Wando High School. He loved to play high school football, even though he didn’t make the starting team. He then went on to the University of South Carolina. He loved serving his country in the U.S. Army, where he was a Ranger and a master skydiver with over 300 jumps. “Not only have we lost a soldier but we have lost a husband and a father as well," his wife Barclay Murphy said. "He just loved what he was doing and made the ultimate scarifice.” He is survived by his three children (Eddie, 10; Elly, 9; Luke, 2).

SSgt. Paul M. Neff, USA, 30 Fort Mill, S.C.

SSgt. Paul M. Neff, assigned to 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), based in Fort Campbell, Ky., was killed Nov. 7, 2003 when a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was shot down in Tikrit, Iraq. Paul joined the Army in 1991 and “loved the Army,” according to his mother, Judy Baker. He had a nine-year old son but still felt it was his duty to serve. Paul, who was divorced, was planning to marry his fiancée, Sabrina Campbell, when he returned home, his father, Paul Neff, said. The couple lived in Clarksville, Tenn.

SSGT Tony B. Olaes, USA, 30 Walhalla, S.C.

SSGT Tony Olaes, USA, assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was killed September 20, 2004, when his patrol vehicle was ambushed by small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades in Shkin, Afghanistan. Olaes joined the South Carolina National Guard in 1992, got out in 1998, and then signed up for Army active duty in 1999. Olaes trained at Fort Jackson to be a communications system operator-maintainer, and he graduated from the Special Forces Qualification Course in 2001. Olaes’ awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Army Commendation Medal and Army Achievement Medal. He also earned a Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab. Olaes is survived by his wife, Tammy, and his three children, Maverick, McKenzie and Alec.

SPC Anthony C. Owens, USA, 21, Conway, S.C.

SPC Anthony C. Owens, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Ky., was killed Feb. 1, 2006 when his unit was attacked by enemy forces using grenades and small-arms fire in Baghdad. Owens was born in Florence and lived most of his life in Dillon. He enlisted in the Army shortly after graduating from high school. Owens’ uncle said the family is taking it hard. Owens’ brother, Shane Owens, is a soldier stationed in Germany and was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq soon.

SSgt. Esau Patterson, USA, 25 Ridgeland, S.C.

SSgt. Esau Patterson, USA, assigned to the 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division in Baumholder, Germany, died April 29, 2004, was killed by a car bomb as his unit was doing a dismounted improvised-explosive device-sweep south of Baghdad. His sister-in-law, Rose Robbins, called him a true hero. Esau was an eight-year veteran of the Army and came from a military family. He is survived by his wife, Kisha, his daughter, Kesauna, and his son, Kaven.

SGT John P. Phillips, USMC, 29, St. Stephen, S.C.

SGT John P. Phillips, USMC, assigned to the 9th Engineer Support Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force in Okinawa, Japan, died Aug. 16, 2006 at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, from wounds sustained March 7 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province of Iraq. Phillips lost a 5-month battle against burns he suffered while fighting in Iraq. While clinging to life in a Texas hospital, Phillips was befriended by Michael Crowley, a member of a relatively new organization called the Patriot Guard, made up mostly of bikers. Crowley immediately took to Sgt. Phillips. “That’s what impressed me so much is that every time I visited John, he would ask me how are you doing Mike?, in a labored voice,” said Crowley. “That was the first thing he'd ask, how's your family doing. And I was in awe of his civility."

Staff Sgt. Ronald Phillips Jr., USA, 33 Conway, S.C.

Army Staff Sgt. Ronald Phillips Jr. 33, of Conway, S.C.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; died Sept. 25, 2008 in Bahbahani, Iraq. Wanda Phillips said a moment with a South African pastor during her son’s high school days was his first nudge toward service. He was known for his love of R & B music and his ability to just draw people in, whether at football games as a child, or fishing with his three brothers as an adult. He is survived by his wife and two young children. “He’s my hero,” said Ronald Phillips Sr.

Edward O. Philpot, SCNG, 38, Latta, S.C.

Edward O. Philpot 38, of Latta, S.C.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 263rd Armor Regiment, South Carolina National Guard, Dillon, S.C.; died Oct. 23, 2007 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from a non-combat-related Humvee rollover accident. He was deeply committed to the cause of freedom and this belief led him to serve his state and country with honor and with distinction," Adjutant General Stanhope Spears said in a written statement. Sergeant Philpot was a loving husband, and a gentle, caring father.

SGT Sameer A.M. Rateb, USA, 22, Ladson, S.C.

SGT Sameer A.M. Rateb, assigned to the 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, died May 6, 2007 at Forward Operating Base Summerall in Bayji, Iraq, from injuries sustained from a non-combat-related incident. Sameer was just 16 when the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks happened. The teenager was living in South Carolina with his mother, Erzsebet Howell, and felt the hatred that many Muslims endured at that time.

A year later, his father took him to ground zero. That's when “Sam” started talking about serving his country. He had never mentioned the military before. Sam was a member of Brigantine's Little League traveling team when he was 13, and he played baseball and soccer. In 2002, the young man who loved adventure found his calling. He finished infantry training in July and the basic airborne course in August. That September, he started a three-month stint in Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. The young soldier received several medals and other commendations. The boy who loved diving and surfing was now a young man who enjoyed jumping out of planes as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne out of Fort Bragg, N.C. After marking three years of service in March, Sgt. Rateb signed up for another five years. In 2006, he married his childhood sweetheart, Tiffany. Together they were raising a son, Jason, 4, in Ladson, S.C. His mother, Erzsebet Howell, and stepfather, Lew, also live there.