Jaron D. Holliday dies 'when the vehicle he was in struck an IED during combat operations'

BROKEN ARROW — Pfc. Jaron D. Holliday of Broken Arrow was killed Saturday south of Baghdad when the vehicle in which he was riding hit an improvised explosive device, family members confirmed Monday.

Holliday, 21, and two other paratroopers died in the explosion.

Funeral services are pending.

Holliday joined the Army in March 2005. He was serving as a cavalry scout assigned to the Bravo Troop, 1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division out of Fort Richardson, Alaska.

“He loved people. He never met a stranger,” said Kelly Holliday, the soldier’s mother. “People were a very intricate part of his life. He loved life.”

Holliday was a homeschool student and graduated in 2004 from Tulsa-based Christian Home Educators Fellowship.

“He loved music and had the potential to be a concert pianist,” Kelly Holliday said.

As an 11-year-old Jaron became interested in joining the military and began researching the branches. His mother said he couldn’t wait to join the Army after the Sept. 11. 2001, terrorist attacks.

“(Jaron) said ‘I wish I was old enough to go now,’” Kelly Holliday said.

He enlisted when he was 19.

“Sometimes, children change their minds about goals, but joining the military was one thing he never changed his mind about. I wasn’t surprised when he enlisted. But when you’re in a time of war, it just grips your heart,” Kelly Holliday said. “As a parent, his dad and I covered him in prayer on a daily basis. We just hoped upon all hope that he would come home from his tour 100-percent whole of mind and body. But that wasn’t to be for us.”

Jaron begin his first Iraq tour in October 2006 and was scheduled to return at the end of November.

During the Christmas holiday, he gave his family a gift on what his mother said was the best day of her life.

Jaron and his father, John Holliday, surprised Kelly on Dec. 26 and spent two weeks at their Broken Arrow home.

“I was moving furniture around in our house and my husband said I had a visitor had the front door. When I got to the front door, there (Jaron) was. He was just grinning,” Kelly Holliday said. “We had the most wonderful two weeks that year. That was a wonderful home visit.”

Jaron also spent plenty of time with his seven siblings.

“He spent a lot of time taking them places, doing things with them, showering them with gifts,” Kelly Holliday said. “We didn’t want to waste time going to an amusement park or sitting in a movie theatre because you can’t look at each other and talk to each other in those places. We decided to make memories by just being together. We did things together as a family. We sat down together for meals.

“We have a lot of wonderful memories of Jaron. He was just a lover of life.”

From the Oklahoman