Windell Simmons laid to rest

HOPKINSVILLE, Ky. - Mourners gathered Monday to pay final respects to a Kentucky soldier killed in Iraq, remembering his professionalism and "infectious smile."

Army Cpl. Windell Jeryd Simmons, 20, a Humvee gunner, was killed Sept. 21.

"I can assure you, he will not be forgotten," said Brig. Gen. Mike Oates, assistant commander for operations of the 101st Airborne Division. Oates recently returned from Iraq.

Oates said members of Simmons' unit in the Fort Hood, Texas-based 4th Infantry Division sent him messages remembering the soldier's smile.

Simmons, who was posthumously promoted to corporal, died when his Humvee hit a roadside bomb near Taji, Iraq.

In a final e-mail to his mother, Betty Simmons-Mayo, he said he planned to be home for Christmas.

Because of Hopkinsville's proximity to Fort Campbell, many residents know soldiers who have died in Iraq. But Simmons' death marked the first known death of a service member in Iraq who grew up in Hopkinsville, the Kentucky New Era of Hopkinsville reported.

Concerns about protests prompted a dozen volunteers to line the sidewalk where they held American flags outside the funeral home as mourners arrived. No protesters gathered.

Simmons was buried at the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery-West in Hopkinsville.

During the ceremony, Simmons' mother received three medals - the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and Good Conduct Medal - awarded to him posthumously.

Read the rest at the Lexington Herald Leader

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Windell Jaryd Simmons killed by roadside bomb