Just released to the public today by his grandmother...not the PAO. I can't say more until the PAO releases it.
Quote:
JACKSON, Miss. - A Mississippi native who was medic of the 5th Special Forces Group was killed Monday in attack on his convoy in Iraq.
Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman, 27, died when his vehicle was hit by a land mine, his grandmother, Sylvia Carpenter of Monticello, told the Enterprise-Journal on Tuesday.
He was one of four soldiers in the last vehicle in the convoy. Three other soldiers suffered minor injuries.
Holleyman is the son of Ross and Glenda Holleyman of Carthage. Calls to the Holleyman home went unanswered Tuesday.
The 5th Special Forces Group is based in Fort Campbell, Ky.
Holleyman was the father of three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. Sylvia Carpenter said the children live in Fayetteville, N.C., with their mother.
Sylvia Carpenter said Holleyman had just returned to Iraq in July after being stateside for treatment of injuries received earlier in Iraq. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service.
"He had two close calls last year," Sylvia Carpenter said.
In 2003, Holleyman was in a vehicle accident in Iraq and saved the life of one of the soldiers. He also was injured in a separate accident, she said.
"Aaron loved what he was doing. It really was close to his heart," she said. "He felt proud to be doing what he was doing. From the way everything has happened and his attitude, he's just our hero."
Monticello Mayor Dave Nichols said the flag in front of City Hall was at half-staff in honor of Holleyman.
Special Forces Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman, 27, shown in this 2003 family handout photograph died Monday, Aug. 30, 2004, when his vehicle hit a land mine in Iraq. The Mississippi native was a medic with the 5th Special Forces Group from Fort Campbell, Kent. Holleyman is the son of Ross and Glenda Holleyman of Carthage. Miss. (AP Photo/Holleyman Family, File)
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E7-CW3-direct commission VN
B model gunship pilot 65-66 Soc Trang, Cobra Pilot 68-69-70 Can Tho Life member 101st Airborne Association
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There is only one tactical principal which is not subject to change. It is to use the means at hand to inflict the maximum amount of wounds, death and destruction on the enemy in the minimum amount of time.
Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.
"May God be with you and may the devil be crushed underfoot as you march for peace on the skulls of our enemies, for goodwill, security and a quality of life that comes only with democracy, " - Ted Nugent
RELEASE NUMBER: 040831-04
DATE POSTED: AUGUST 31, 2004
PRESS RELEASE: Special Forces sergeant killed in Iraq
U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office
FORT BRAGG, N.C. (USASOC News Service, Aug. 31, 2004) — An Army Special Forces Soldier died Aug. 30 near Khutayiah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device exploded near his vehicle.
Staff Sgt. Aaron N. Holleyman, 26, a Special Forces medical sergeant assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell, Ky., was participating in a combat patrol when the IED was detonated.
Three other Soldiers on the patrol were wounded by the blast and later returned to duty.
Holleyman, a native of Glasgow, Mont., enlisted in the Army in June 1996 as an infantryman. After completing infantry and airborne training at Fort Benning, Ga., he was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C., in November 1996 as a platoon armorer in the 82nd Airborne Division’s 1st Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
After being selected for Special Forces training in 2000, Holleyman was assigned to Fort Bragg’s 1st Special Warfare Training Group (Airborne) in January 2001.
Upon completion of his training as an SF medical sergeant, he was assigned to the 5th SFG in September 2003. Shortly after arriving at the unit, Holleyman deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
He deployed in support of OIF for a second time in July 2004.
Holleyman’s military education includes the Special Forces Qualification Course, the Basic Noncommissioned Officer Course, the Basic Airborne Course, the Combat Life Saver Course and the Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Course.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, the Army Commendation Medal, the Army Achievement Medal, the Army Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Combat Medical Badge, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Driver and Mechanic Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the Special Forces Tab.
Holleyman is survived by two daughters and a son in Fayetteville, N.C.; his brother, Pfc. Daniel M. Holleyman of the Mississippi Army National Guard’s 2nd Battalion, 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne); and his parents, Ross and Glenda Holleyman, of Carthage, Miss.
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"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910