James Musack reported shot in 'non-hostile incident'

A 23-year-old Riverside soldier, who was engaged to be married and scheduled to return home next month, was killed this week in Iraq.

Army Sgt. James Musack was shot and killed Tuesday, his family and friends said.

Musack's brother, Reggie Grandstaff, 21, of Coralville, said a captain from the National Guard came to his home last night and told him his brother was shot and killed in action.

Grandstaff said he was given no other details except that an investigation was pending and details may not be known for up to six months. He said his brother's body would arrive in about 10 days and a funeral would be held in Riverside.

I was "hurt and stunned," Grandstaff said. "He was the best brother and cared about so many other people besides himself."

The Department of Defense has not released any information about the death.

Musack was a cavalry scout and conducted scouting missions ahead of the front lines and reported back on enemy positions, Grandstaff said. He believed his brother was stationed near Baghdad.

Musack is survived by his fiance, who lives in Oklahoma; his mother, Yvette Easton, of Oklahoma; and two half-sisters, one in North Liberty and one in Naperville, Ill., Grandstaff said.

Musack enlisted in the Army Reserves on his 17th birthday, Grandstaff said. After his first tour of Iraq ended a couple of years ago, he enlisted in the regular Army in hopes of joining a special operations unit such as the Army Rangers, he said. He was stationed out of Ft. Hood, Texas, he said.

But Musack was sent back to Iraq for a second tour last December before he could start the additional training necessary to join a unit like the Rangers. He was scheduled to return home next month, Grandstaff said.

Grandstaff said his brother wanted to return to Eastern Iowa, start a family and become a fireman.

Musack was a 2002 graduate of Highland High School in Riverside, located about 15 miles south of Iowa City, where he played football and basketball.

Mike Poch, 23, of Riverside, considered Musack his best friend. He said his friend moved to Riverside in sixth grade and stuck out immediately because he was the tallest kid in the class. He remained tall and muscular and played basketball and defensive tackle for the Highland High football team.

"Probably the hardest-hitting kid I've ever met," Poch said.

Musack stayed with the Pochs in Riverside when he was on leave from the military. Bill Poch, the mayor of Riverside, had power of attorney over Musack, mainly to monitor Musack's bank account and other financial details in Riverside.

"I kind of consider James as close to my next son as I can," Bill Poch said.

Mark Gross, 42, of Williamsburg, was paired with Musack in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program when Musack was 7. They continued in the program for 10 years and maintained their relationship afterward. Musack was even Gross' best man when he married in 1997.

Gross last saw Musack in July.

"He said it was hard work, but he enjoyed doing what he did," Gross said.

From the Gazette

Eastern Iowa soldier dies in Iraq

An eastern Iowa soldier who had told friends back home of his pride in serving in the U.S. Army has died during his second combat tour in Iraq.

Sgt. James Musack, 23, of Riverside, a community about 12 miles south of Iowa City, died Tuesday, friends and family members said Wednesday.

He had served in Iraq with an Army unit based at Fort Bragg, N.C. The details of his death were not immediately released by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Musack graduated in 2002 from Highland High School in Washington County, where he had played football and basketball. He enlisted in an Army Reserve unit in Washington, Ia., his junior year. He was so proud of his military uniform that he wore it for his graduation photo and to his senior prom, friends said. He later transferred to a regular U.S. Army unit.

“He was happy, and he was doing what he wanted to do,” said Ed Pundt, principal at Highland High School. Pundt spent more than an hour with Musack last spring when the Iowa soldier returned home for a visit. They chatted about old times and about his plans for the future.

“He talked about he had a direction, and how about when he was done with the Army he would come back to the community. That was part of his plan,” Pundt said.

Musack was the 47th person with Iowa ties to have died in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2003.

Musack was the son of Yvette Rorex Easton, formerly of Riverside and now of Tulsa., Okla. His unofficial residence when he returned to eastern Iowa was at the home of Riverside Mayor Bill Poch and his wife, Diane.

Their youngest son, Michael, 23, was a high school classmate of Musack. He was also a friend of Michael’s older brothers, Nick, 27, and Joe, 25, who returned from Iraq last December after serving there with the Iowa National Guard’s 224th Engineer Battalion.

“He had been a typical teenager, and he’d had some rough spots growing up,” Diane Poch said. “But he was very, very proud of what he was doing. He told me several times that the military helped him to focus and to turn his life around. He was a very caring person.”

Friends recalled Musack as a tall, strong young man with a big smile who stood 6-foot, 4 inches tall and weighed about 240 pounds. He loved having fun and hanging out with his pals.

“He was a typical small-town Iowa kid,” said Nick Smith, a language arts teacher at Highland school. “At times you had to give him a little push to get him going to get his work done. But most kids are that way.”

Flags were lowered to half-staff at the school on Wednesday morning as word quickly spread through the school that a former student had died. Funeral plans are pending, but services probably will be held at St.Mary’s Catholic Church in Riverside, friend said.

From the Register

UPDATE, 11/24: DOD Investigates Soldier's Death

The Department of Defense is Investigating the death of an Iowa soldier in Iraq.

The DOD says Sgt. James Musack, 23 of Riverside died on Tuesday of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident in Samarra.

A spokesman with the DOD says Musack's death is classified for now as a non-hostile death, but will not release any more information pending the investigation.

Musack's brother, Reggie Grandstaff, has said he was shot and killed.

From WOI 5