Brandon Bobb remembered by mother

When Brandon Bobb was a little boy, he showed a talent in the kitchen and a caring instinct by bringing his mother soup when she was ill. As a young man, he attended a culinary institute and joined the Army to protect his country.

Pfc. Brandon Bobb, 20, who graduated from Riverview High School in 2005, died Tuesday serving in Iraq.

A roadside bomb exploded near his Humvee in Baghdad, also killing Pfc. Ron Joshua Jr., 19, of Austin, Texas. Both men were assigned to the 401st Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade, Fort Hood, Texas.

Paula Bobb-Miles, who lives in Port Arthur, Texas, said her son was about 8 years old when he first tried cooking and brought her toast and eggs.

"He'd say, 'I made this for you, Mom, and you have to eat it because I know you don't want me around the stove for very long,'" she said Saturday during a telephone interview.

"No words can truly describe my son," Bobb-Miles said. "He was outgoing and he had no enemies. He was a mentor to so many people, especially kids."

Bobb's family moved to the Riverview area from Port Arthur when his father's job was transferred temporarily to a Tampa shipping company, his mother said. Bobb spent his last year of high school at Riverview.

Bobb's parents and younger brother and sister later returned to Port Arthur.

Before coming to Riverview, Bobb played high school football in Port Arthur as a running back, his mother said. His favorite video game was John Madden's Football.

After graduating, he enrolled in the Orlando Culinary Academy for a year before joining the Army in the footsteps of his late grandfather, his mother said.

"He loved what he was doing," she said.

On his MySpace.com page, Bobb wrote: "As of right now, it's the best job in the world. I'm thinking of making this Army thing a career but don't know yet."

The page has several photos he'd posted of himself with his Army buddies, including Joshua. He last logged on to the site on the day before his death.

Bobb was scheduled for a short leave later this month and planned to visit his family, she said. The two shared their last conversation the Friday before he died.

"We talked about God," his mother said. "We talked about his promotion. He was advancing. He excelled at anything he did. We also talked about how much we loved each other."

From the Tampa Tribune

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