Jimy Malone laid to rest

Twenty-three year old Staff Sergeant Jimy Malone knew early on he wanted a life in the Army.

His uncle and officiate Reverend Adrian Totty remembers him as a teenager.

"I flew down here from Oklahoma to take him on a ride. I guess it was his first time in an airplane, and just as we were about to take off, an army helicopter landed, and he didn't care a thing about my plane at all," says Totty.

He was a senior at Wills Point High School when he enlisted and would go on to serve two tours in Iraq. Malone knew full well the dangers of the job, and those who knew him say he thrived on it.

"He wasn't satisfied to be in the command post. He wanted to be on the ground making a difference," says Brigadier General Jeffrey Dorko.

Perhaps some of the most personal comments came in the form of a letter written by his best friend and battle buddy.

It said, "For anyone that didn't know Jimy, he had many faces. He was one of the best soldiers, one of the strictest NCO's you will ever meet. He was a husband, father of a six month old girl, and he was known for making long stories longer."

The letter went on to says, "We always talked about if something were to happen to either of us, we didn't want people to mourn us, but to have the biggest party ever known."

It was a service with full military honors just like his family says Jimy would have wanted. They were presented with the Bronze Star and Purple Heart he earned in combat along with the flag that draped his casket; just a few tokens of thanks for a soldier who paid a priceless sacrifice.

From the Tyler Morning Telegraph

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