Jon-Erik Loney killed by roadside bomb

OAK RIDGE — The family of Jon-Erik Loney calls him a hero.

They want you to know that he was doing what he wanted to do by serving in Iraq.

But, most importantly, they want you to know that he had an infectious smile and was generous.

"Just a good kid, a very good kid," his mother, Violet Loney, said.

A roadside bomb killed Loney, a 2003 Danville High graduate, in Iraq on Tuesday. He was 21.

"I'm so proud of him," his stepfather, Jim "Bo" Kaylor said. "I talked with him about two weeks ago and he was telling me about some of the IEDs (improvised explosive devices)."

Kaylor and Loney said the U.S. government has not provided them complete details of their son's death.

"They told us he was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. on Tuesday," Kaylor said.

The Associated Press reported that a roadside bomb Tuesday killed an Army soldier and wounded another in Salahuddin province.

Salahuddin, which includes former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, is about 40 miles north of Baghdad.

Loney was the 2,881st soldier killed since the Iraq war began in March 2003. Two more American soldiers died Wednesday.

His parents said Loney knew that he would probably go to Iraq when he enlisted in the Army in February 2005.

He had talked about joining the Navy with a friend after high school, but changed his mind after working almost two years with his stepfather.

"I didn't want him to join the military, but I knew he was going to do it," Violet Loney said.

Loney went to Iraq for the first time Jan. 13. He came home on leave in March, but left going back to Iraq on April 9.

"That was his birthday," Kaylor said.

Loney, who was a specialist in the 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, drove a Bradley fighting vehicle.

He had told his parents he wanted to be a gunner. About two weeks before his death, Loney told his stepfather about roadside bombs hitting the Bradleys he was driving.

"He told me he had been in four Bradleys and bombs had destroyed three of them," Kaylor said. "He told me at that time that things were getting worse."

But when Loney last talked with his mother Saturday, he was driving a Humvee.

"He told me nothing was going on and he was bored," Violet Loney said.

Planning Christmas

She said they talked about Christmas.

"I sent him a package every week," she said. "He said he didn't need anything, but he wanted some fishing stuff (for Christmas). He told me to leave it under the tree."

Loney's parents had planned to see their son in February. As sad as they are about his death, they said, Loney was doing what he wanted to do.

"I worried so much, but he always told me 'Mama, this is what I want to do,' " Violet Loney said.

Kaylor said Loney couldn't give them a lot of details about what he was doing. He suspects that he was moving toward Baghdad when he hit the roadside bomb.

"We don't know if it was detonated with a remote control or if he just ran over it," Kaylor said.

Kaylor and Violet Loney were already in bed Tuesday when a chaplain and Army captain arrived to inform them of Loney's death at about 7:30 p.m.

Josh Loney, their youngest son, came to tell them two men dressed in military uniforms were at the door.

"I knew," Kaylor said. "They could have went ahead and left. I knew it was bad news."

On Wednesday, a sergeant from Redstone Arsenal told Loney's parents that their son was wearing full-body armor when he died.

"I was glad to hear that because he told his mother he would wear body armor," Kaylor said. "We offered to send him a bullet-proof vest, but he said he had one. He assured us he would wear it."

The family said the military has told them that it will be about two weeks before Loney's body arrives back in the U.S.

Loney's grandparents, Allen and Linda Kaylor, said they are going to miss their grandson.

"He's one of the best kids I knew. He would break his back to help you," Allen Kaylor said.

The grandfather said Loney enjoyed being in the military and that he and his wife supported him 100 percent.

"The military was the thing he wanted to do," Allen Kaylor said. "He was an all-around great kid. He's going to be dearly missed."

Bo Kaylor and Violet Loney said they remember Loney as the son who was laid back, but always smiled.

"Jon-Erik is a hero," Kaylor said. "He joined the Army and knew he would probably go to Iraq. I was proud of him before he left and I'm proud of him now."

From the Decatur Daily