James E. Powell

James E. Powell

Company B 1-22 Infantry 4th Infantry Division

KIA October 12, 2003

SPC James Powell was killed when his M2/A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicle struck an enemy anti-tank mine near Baji, Iraq.

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Fort Hood soldiers die in Iraq
Associated Press

Posted on Thu, Oct. 16, 2003

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A soldier who enlisted in the Army in Kentucky died in Iraq when his Bradley armored vehicle struck a land mine, the Army said.

Spc. James E. Powell, 26, was killed Sunday near Beiji, 30 miles north of Tikrit.

Powell was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment. The unit is part of the 4th Infantry Division, which controls a large swath of northern Iraq and is based in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown 120 miles north of Baghdad.

He was born in Ohio and graduated from high school in Columbus, Ohio, but enlisted in the Army in Radcliff, Ky., and listed it as his hometown of record, military officials said.

Powell enlisted in the Navy in Columbus and served from June 1997 to June 2000, according to Mike McLellan, a spokesman for Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn.

Powell served as a seaman apprentice on the USS Arctic, based in Earle, N.J., McLellan said. He enlisted in the Army in January 2001, according to Dan Hassett, a spokesman at Fort Hood.

Powell was one of two soldiers from his battalion who were hailed with Psalms and a 21-gun salute Thursday in a memorial service at one of Saddam's palaces.

The other soldier was Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, of Concord, Mich., who died Monday in downtown Tikrit when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.

More than 190 American soldiers have been killed by hostile fire since President Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq on May 1. But the two deaths were especially poignant because they occurred within a 24-hour period and within the same regiment, which is stationed in one of the most dangerous areas of Iraq.

Several hundred soldiers gathered at the downtown palace for the somber ceremony.

The two soldiers' helmets were placed together with their nametags over their rifle butts, next to their boots on a small podium adorned with the U.S. flag and the regimental banner. Medals, including the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, were awarded posthumously to Wheeler and Powell, and placed next to their rifles.

"We mourn their loss; we honor their sacrifice," said Lt. Col. Steve Russell, the battalion commander.

"We will finish their mission. As long as Regulars draw breath, we shall not forget them," Russell said, invoking the regiment's motto: "Regulars by God."

Company commanders recounted how Powell had volunteered for a combat mission although he was due for home leave within days, and talked of Wheeler's "contagious smile and boundless enthusiasm."

In full battle gear, the troops stood in formation as the two soldiers' names were called out three times - with no response - in a ceremonious roll-call. A bugler played taps. Surrounded by Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams tanks, a female soldier sang 'America the Beautiful' and 'Amazing Grace.'

Tears streaming down their cheeks, the troops then filed one by one by the podium to pay their respects.

Maj. Gen. Roy Odierno, the 4th Infantry Division commander, laid a division coin for excellence by the fallen soldiers' medals.

"They gave their lives for their country," Odierno told reporters after the ceremony. "These are all dedicated Americans who love their country, who are here."

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Soldier's widow recalls a love that was like few others

By JACOB BENNETT

Ruby Powell's love for her husband James makes her say things like "he was the air I breathe and the sky above me," and she says that doesn't do it justice.

He opened doors for her, lied about sneaking his daughter ice cream and woke Ruby each morning to say "I love you" and "You're beautiful" before going to work

And he kept every promise but the one he made Oct. 4: He swore they'd speak again.

Details about Spc. James Edward Powell, 26, have been scarce since the 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed near Tikrit, Iraq, last Sunday. But Friday, from their home at Fort Hood, Texas, Powell's 23-year-old widow painted a portrait of a man who loved nothing more than being with his family n even though his job often kept him from them.

He lived with her in Radcliff for only four months before enlisting in the Army, swearing he would give everything he could to make sure his daughter was safe and free. And then he did just that.

"When I found out he died, I died," Ruby said. "I'll never tell another man ‘I love you' and be able to mean it."

James, who was from Columbus, Ohio, met Ruby's brother in the Navy and went home with him on a hunting trip in 1998. He met Ruby that September morning, and she was so stricken she asked him out that night. He would have asked her, but the 5-foot-6-inch Powell was afraid she would say no n he thought the four inches she had on him would scare her off.

He shouldn't have worried. She fell hard the first time he spoke to her n "Good morning, beautiful."

"It was what people don't believe in anymore n love at first sight," Ruby said. "It was to the point where we couldn't be out of the same room. Everything was ablaze inside us."

He proposed six months later, and they married in October 2000. When he got out of the Navy in 2001, they lived together in Masden Mobile Home Park in Radcliff, not far from where her mother and stepfather, Carol Mann and Curtis Morgan, live. They loved doing the simple things together n sleeping in on weekends, holding each other on the couch, drinking coffee in the morning.

He was away from his 2-year-old daughter almost more than he was with her. He enlisted to give her a better life, but that meant he only saw her about nine months of it.

When he was home he would pretend to sleep on the couch and his daughter would pull open his eyelids for a game of peekaboo. He would grab her n "Daddy's got you" n and she would squeal with laughter and run away.

They named her Lauren Mkinsey n Ruby picked the first name, James got the middle. She looks just like him n she even has the mushy tummy he got from too much junk food.

"Having her means I can look at him every single day," Ruby said. "I feel like our little girl got robbed so much."

James Powell cried the first time Lauren told him she loved him. He cried again when Ruby lost the son he'd always wanted. They were going to try for another child when he came home.

Instead, he'll be placed in the ground by Ruby's plot in Lebanon Junction, where she grew up before moving to Radcliff in 1996. No one is sure when that will be.

The Army said he died from wounds suffered when the Bradley Fighting Vehicle he was riding in rolled over an anti-tank mine in northern Iraq. The Army said it's still investigating.

Now Ruby doesn't know what she's going to do, where she's going to live. She said she might not have gone on living, if it weren't for Lauren.

In April, she didn't even get to hug James the last time she saw him n the military whisked him onto a bus and turned out the lights so the soldier's families couldn't see them. But she caught a glimpse.

He was praying.

He told Ruby later not to be mad at him if he didn't make it home. He'd always be with her, even if he wasn't.

James Powell was so excited when he called Oct. 4. He made Ruby sit down before he told her he would be home Oct. 10 and caused her to say "Oh, my God!" a million times in a row.

But he didn't show. On Monday, a chaplain and a sergeant came to her door and told her her husband was dead.

James always said he'd earn people's respect no matter what, Ruby said.

"I am so proud of him," she said. "When I think about him, I smile."

Then Ruby breaks a promise to herself. She starts to cry.

"God, I want to hold him so bad right now."

Jacob Bennett can be reached at 769-1200, Ext. 428 or e-mail him at jbennett@mail.the-ne.com.

Copyright THE NEWS-ENTERPRISE http://www.newsenterpriseonline.com

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Soldier killed by land mine buried

LEBANON JUNCTION, Ky. (AP) -- Emotions were raw Sunday as Army Spc. James E. Powell was laid to rest on a bleak autumn day in his wife's hometown.

Ruby Powell was doubled over, her hands cupped over her face, throughout the burial ceremony in Lebanon Junction City Cemetery, which borders the house where she grew up.

James Powell was killed Oct. 12 near Beiji when his Bradley armored vehicle set off a land mine. Fellow soldiers said the 26-year-old Columbus native had volunteered for a combat mission even though he was due for home leave within days.

Following private funeral services, soldiers from nearby Fort Knox carried a flag-draped coffin into the cemetery as a lone bagpiper played "Amazing Grace."

Maj. Gen. Michael Rochelle, a commanding general at Fort Knox, said Powell, who was posthumously awarded medals including the Purple Heart and Bronze Star, "paid the ultimate sacrifice in the effort to liberate Iraq."

Seven gunmen saluted Powell by firing shots into the air.

Powell was a member of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, based in Fort Hood, Texas. The unit is part of the 4th Infantry Division, which controls a large swath of northern Iraq and is based in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown.

Powell served in the Navy from June 1997 to June 2000, during which time he met Ruby, the sister of a fellow seaman.

After the ceremony, two soldiers from Powell's unit spoke of his sacrifice.

"He was a good guy," said Spc. Tim Moore, who had served with Powell in Iraq but returned home because of injury. "He was always talking about hunting and fishing, and he loved his wife and daughter. He always did what he had to do without complaining."

Capt. Matt Weber said that although Ruby Powell was grieving, she was also proud because her husband knew what it meant to be a soldier.

"He wasn't just a guy who would put on the uniform and go to work," Weber said. "She mentioned to me that even if he had known what would happen, he still would have went."

About 50 people attended the burial in Lebanon Junction, 35 miles south of Louisville. Several veterans watched from a distance.

The occasion brought back memories for Vietnam veteran Bob Brian, a neighbor of Ruby Powell's family, who said his son died soon after he returned from being stationed abroad.

"Seventeen years ago I lost a son in the Army. He had a heart attack," said Brian. "So I feel for them."

Moore and Weber said a service at Fort Hood was planned for Friday in honor of Powell and Spc. Donald L. Wheeler, of Concord, Mich., who died Oct. 13 in downtown Tikrit when a rocket-propelled grenade hit his vehicle.

Powell is survived by his 23-year-old wife and 2-year-old daughter, Lauren Mkinsey.

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