Sean D. Tharp

Company B 1-22 Infantry

4th Infantry Division (Mechanized)

KIA March 28, 2006

Pfc. Sean D. Tharp, 21, of Orlando, Fla., died in Baghdad, Iraq on March 28, 2006, when his element came under enemy small arms fire
while conducting dismounted patrol operations. Tharp was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry, 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Hood, Texas.

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Although we suffered fewer wounded this month than previous months, we lost Private First Class Sean Tharp of B Company to enemy fire
on March 28, 2006. We held the Memorial Ceremony on FOB FALCON a few days later where we said goodbye to him
and I was happy to see the unit truly support each other during that time. I spoke to Sean’s mother shortly after his death to offer her our condolences
for her loss and she told me how much Sean loved being a Soldier in B Company and how much he wanted to be here with his brothers –
it is where he felt he belonged. Because he touched our lives and lived as a Regular, I know that he will never be alone and he will never be forgotten.

LT COLONEL Craig Osborne, Commander 1st Battalion 22nd Infantry- April 15, 2006

Sean D. Tharp was born on 21 August, 1984 in Orlando, Florida.
He entered the United States Army as an Infantryman on 17 May 2005.
He graduated from Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training at
Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation from AIT, PFC Tharp was assigned to
Company B, 1st Battalion , 22nd Infantry, 1BCT, 4th Infantry Division.
Fort Hood, Texas.

PFC Sean D. Tharp's decorations

Killed in Iraq

Army Pfc. Sean D. Tharp

April 1, 2006

A 21-year-old Orlando soldier who turned his life around and joined the Army to save money for college was killed Tuesday while on foot patrol in Iraq.

Pvt. Sean Tharp died when he was struck by small-arms fire as he and members of the 4th Infantry Division were on duty in Baghdad
, the Department of Defense said Friday.

"He'd just gotten over there," his stepfather, Michael Tharp, said. "He was a brilliant kid. He had high-enough test scores to do about anything
[in the Army], but he chose the infantry."

Michael Tharp learned of the death when a reporter called at his home near the University of Central Florida on Friday afternoon.

"I'm sorry I can't think right now," Tharp said. "Baghdad? That's supposed to be the safest place, isn't it?"

Tharp had not seen his stepson since he and Sean Tharp's mother were divorced about three years ago. But he said he spoke with him
shortly before Christmas when the soldier called him to say he was shipping out for Iraq.

The slain soldier's mother, Teresa Tharp, who teaches economics at Valencia Community College, could not be reached for comment.
Messages left at her home and work were not answered.

Her east Orange County neighbors said they had not seen her since Wednesday, when several soldiers visited the house.

On May 17 last year, Sean Tharp enlisted after talking with recruiters in Orlando, according to the Army.

"He was a good kid, a gung-ho kid," Ron Horvath, a spokesman for Army recruiters in Central Florida, said in a telephone interview from Tampa.
"He impressed the recruiters who remembered he was reading a biography of [Gen.] Colin Powell."

He also told the recruiter he hoped to go to officer-candidate school.

Sean Tharp grew up on a series of military bases in the continental United States and Hawaii after his mother and stepfather, both career soldiers,
married when he was 3, Michael Tharp said.

Despite being a gifted student, Sean started getting in trouble and dropped out during 10th grade at Edgewater High School in Orlando, his stepfather said.

"He was just trying to get his life back together. He'd gotten his GED, and he had been straight for like a year before he went in," Tharp said.
"I think he enlisted to get the bonus money and get college money to go back to school."

Neither parent raised him to follow them into the Army.

"We both told him . . . he shouldn't go into the military," his stepfather said.

Sean Tharp was posthumously promoted to private first class this week, said Dalena Kanouse, a spokeswoman for the Army's III Corps
and the 4th Infantry Division based at Fort Hood, Texas. His awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal,
the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and the Army Service Ribbon, she said.

from the Orlando Sentinel

Soldiers prepare the memorial to PFC Sean D. Tharp in Baghdad, Iraq.

MG James D. Thurman and CSM Ronald T. Riling paying their respects at the memorial for PFC Tharp, Baghdad, Iraq.

MG Thurman and CSM Riling salute their fallen brother Soldier.

The memorial for Sean with tributes and personal remembrances

Photo and caption from the Iraq/Afghanistan War Heroes website

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PFC Sean D. Tharp

4th Infantry Remembers 8 Who Sacrificed Everything

By Emily Baker
Killeen Daily Herald

April 21, 2006

FORT HOOD - Just a few months ago, some of these Soldiers were at their senior proms. They no doubt endured dozens of photographs
and hugs from parents proud of their children who had suddenly grown up.

These same parents sat across from photos of their children in the 4th Infantry Division's chapel Thursday.
Strong smiles from young faces sitting in front of American flags were placed around a Kevlar helmet perched atop a single rifle,
a somber reminder that we'll never see these Soldiers' smiles again.

Five of the eight Soldiers honored at Thursday's memorial service had been in the Army for less than two years.
Half of them were 21 years old or younger when they died in Iraq.

"I think they are tremendously brave," said Col. Dick Francey, the division's rear commander. "If you take a look across the nation,
we are an Army of volunteers. During a time of war, you have young men and women step up.
It's always amazing, but especially during a time of war, I take my hat off to them."

The young Soldiers, especially, were remembered for their professionalism and their dedication to duty.

"They served us and our nation proudly," Francey said.

Pfc. Sean D. Tharp was another Soldier who proved to be outstanding in just a few months.
Tharp, 21, joined the Army just 10 months ago and served with the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

"He was a warrior who went above and beyond his job every time the crap hit the fan," said Capt. Warren Litherland, the Battalion's rear commander.

Litherland read a statement from one of Tharp's sergeants in Iraq.
The sergeant remembered a March 2 patrol during which their vehicles rolled over a roadside bomb.
Tharp was one of the first two people to jump from the vehicle and shoot in the direction of the person who set off the bomb.

Then, when the suggestion came to search a field, Tharp immediately ran to the field without being told to do so.
All he had was a rifle with a half-empty magazine and a radio.

Tharp's last patrol took place March 20. His sergeant asked whether he was nervous,
and he replied that where ever the sergeant goes, he would be there, too.

"Less than 10 minutes later, he died on a battlefield for his country," Litherland said.

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Burial:
Florida National Cemetery
Bushnell
Sumter County
Florida, USA
Plot: Sec 402 Site 44

Grave marker for PFC Sean D. Tharp

Photo by: Cheryl Behrend from the Find A Grave website

Find A Grave page Created by: Z46561848
Record added: Apr 01, 2006
Find A Grave Memorial# 13811419

Top photo from the Find A Grave website

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