thedrifter
05-06-04, 07:42 PM
Marine turned soldier was on his second tour of duty in Iraq
By John Berhman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2004
ESCONDIDO – Army Spc. James "Jimmy" Beckstrand had just gotten married in September and was looking forward to completing his second tour of duty in Iraq in mid-April and being reunited with his wife.
But his unit, the 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division out of Baumholder, Germany, was given a four-month extension of duty.
Beckstrand, 27, of Escondido, and seven other soldiers from his unit were killed April 29 when their convoy was attacked and a car bomb exploded near them just south of Baghdad.
Born in Reno, Nev., but raised in Escondido since the third grade, Beckstrand attended North Broadway Elementary School and Rincon Middle School, and graduated from Escondido High School in 1995.
After graduation, he enlisted for four years in the Marine Corps. After taking about a year off as a civilian, he enlisted in the Army.
Close friends yesterday described Beckstrand as a fun-loving, warm and friendly person who reached out to others.
"I was new at Rincon Middle School and nobody was talking to me, and one day Jimmy came up to me and introduced himself and some of his friends, and we became best friends," Jeremy Kinder of Escondido recalled.
"He would come over and stay at our house almost every weekend," Kinder said. "He was like part of our family. I considered him to be like a brother. He called my mom 'Mom.' "
Beckstrand's parents were divorced years ago. His father, Lee Beckstrand of Escondido, could not be immediately reached for comment. An acquaintance said he was in Meadow, Utah, making arrangements for his son's burial there in a family plot. A memorial service there is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday.
Kinder said Beckstrand was close with his father, "but Jimmy liked to hang out with his friends."
The friends surfed, swam in the pool at Kinder's house, went to a local arcade "and stayed up late nights just talking, like guys do," Kinder said.
Kinder's mother, Joan Bridgman, said she helped arrange for a memorial service at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Escondido's Emmanuel Faith Community Church, 639 E. Felicita Ave.
"It was such a shock," Bridgman said. "He was a great kid. He was like part of our family. We took him on vacations and camping trips with us. Jimmy was a very patriotic boy, too. He was certainly a hero to us."
Bridgman said Beckstrand met his Italian-born wife, Marilena, in Clarksville, Tenn., where she worked in a hospital. Beckstrand had been stationed at nearby Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
"They came here for dinner when he was on leave for the Christmas holiday," Bridgman said.
The couple were living in Germany when Beckstrand was sent to Iraq at the start of the war there. He was sent back for a second deployment in December and then extended for duty.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040506-9999-7m6beck.html
Ellie
By John Berhman
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
May 6, 2004
ESCONDIDO – Army Spc. James "Jimmy" Beckstrand had just gotten married in September and was looking forward to completing his second tour of duty in Iraq in mid-April and being reunited with his wife.
But his unit, the 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division out of Baumholder, Germany, was given a four-month extension of duty.
Beckstrand, 27, of Escondido, and seven other soldiers from his unit were killed April 29 when their convoy was attacked and a car bomb exploded near them just south of Baghdad.
Born in Reno, Nev., but raised in Escondido since the third grade, Beckstrand attended North Broadway Elementary School and Rincon Middle School, and graduated from Escondido High School in 1995.
After graduation, he enlisted for four years in the Marine Corps. After taking about a year off as a civilian, he enlisted in the Army.
Close friends yesterday described Beckstrand as a fun-loving, warm and friendly person who reached out to others.
"I was new at Rincon Middle School and nobody was talking to me, and one day Jimmy came up to me and introduced himself and some of his friends, and we became best friends," Jeremy Kinder of Escondido recalled.
"He would come over and stay at our house almost every weekend," Kinder said. "He was like part of our family. I considered him to be like a brother. He called my mom 'Mom.' "
Beckstrand's parents were divorced years ago. His father, Lee Beckstrand of Escondido, could not be immediately reached for comment. An acquaintance said he was in Meadow, Utah, making arrangements for his son's burial there in a family plot. A memorial service there is scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday.
Kinder said Beckstrand was close with his father, "but Jimmy liked to hang out with his friends."
The friends surfed, swam in the pool at Kinder's house, went to a local arcade "and stayed up late nights just talking, like guys do," Kinder said.
Kinder's mother, Joan Bridgman, said she helped arrange for a memorial service at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Escondido's Emmanuel Faith Community Church, 639 E. Felicita Ave.
"It was such a shock," Bridgman said. "He was a great kid. He was like part of our family. We took him on vacations and camping trips with us. Jimmy was a very patriotic boy, too. He was certainly a hero to us."
Bridgman said Beckstrand met his Italian-born wife, Marilena, in Clarksville, Tenn., where she worked in a hospital. Beckstrand had been stationed at nearby Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
"They came here for dinner when he was on leave for the Christmas holiday," Bridgman said.
The couple were living in Germany when Beckstrand was sent to Iraq at the start of the war there. He was sent back for a second deployment in December and then extended for duty.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20040506-9999-7m6beck.html
Ellie