Eddie (Edmund J.) Jeffers dies 'injuries suffered from a non-combat related accident'

A U.S. Army Sergeant Eddie Jeffers of Daleville is the latest casualty in Operation Iraqi Freedom. News 4 spoke with Sergeant Jeffers family and friends on Friday.

It’s a time of "terrible sadness", but at the same time "immense pride" for Sergeant Eddie Jeffers family. On Tuesday, Tina Kelly learned that her 22-year-old son was killed in Iraq.

Sergeant Jeffers was a member of the First of the 503rd, based at Fort Carson, Colorado.

The family has been told that Eddie, along with members of his unit, were killed when their vehicle “overturned”.

Tina Kelly, Eddie’s mother said, "He joined the military to honor his grandfather, his father. He did what he needed to do and was proud of it. We are proud of him."

Sergeant Jeffers married his high school sweetheart, Stephanie, two years ago. She along with other family are in the process of heading home to Daleville:

Ethel Spann, Eddie’s grandmother said, "I now am worried about two more grandchildren about to go over there. I hope it can be resolved so we can bring these boys and girls back home."

Several of Sergeant Jeffers articles on his war experiences have been read by President Bush and members of Congress.

Daleville High School Teacher Gwen Trinker remembers the 2002 graduate as generous. "When they come into my class in uniform, I tell them that I’m proud that there willing to give their lives for me and their country. I'm proud of them."

Sergeant Eddie Jeffers body will soon arrive in Dover, Delaware and be returned home to Daleville next week.

Funeral arrangements are incomplete at this time.

From WTVY 4

Earlier this month, two of seven soldiers who had penned an Op-Ed for The New York Times that expressed skepticism about the war in Iraq were killed in a vehicle accident there. Now another soldier whose writings on the war, but with a more pro-war view, were widely circulated has died in another non-combat related incident.

He is Sgt. Edmund "Eddie" Jeffers. He died on Wednesday in Taqqadum of injuries suffered from an unspecified accident that is under investigation, the Army said.

Jeffers, 23, was in the 2nd Infantry Division’s 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team. This was his second tour of duty in Iraq.

He wrote an essay, "Hope Rides Alone," backing the war in February for the conservative Free Republic web site that gained wide notice. He suggested that the American public was ungrateful.

“America has lost its will to fight," he wrote. “It has lost its will to defend what is right and just in the world...Let’s stop all the political nonsense, let’s stop bickering, let’s stop all the bad news and let’s stand and fight! Isn’t that what America is about anyway?”

He also wrote: "I am stressed, I am scared, and I am paranoid...because death is everywhere. It waits for me, it calls to me from around street corners and windows, and it is always there. There are the demons that follow me, and tempt me into thoughts and actions that are not my own...but that are necessary for survival.

"I've made compromises with my humanity. And I am not alone in this."

He added that the memory of soldiers' ultimate sacrifice "is tainted by the inconsiderate remarks on our nation's news outlets."

From Editor and Publisher

Related Link:
'Hope Rides Alone' by Edmund Jeffers