thedrifter
01-16-06, 06:22 AM
Posted on Mon, Jan. 16, 2006
Family proud of fallen soldier's service
Sarasota native Kyle Jackson always 'wanted to be a hero'
ERICA RODRIGUEZ
Herald Staff Writer
SARASOTA - Family proud of fallen soldier's service: Sarasota native Kyle Jackson always 'wanted to be a hero'
Herald Staff Writer
Michael Lee Jackson never doubted his brother Kyle would come home from Iraq.
But three months to the day after the Jackson family last saw him, Kyle Edward Jackson, 28, a pilot with the U.S. Army, died. His OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter was shot down in Mosul on Friday.
"He wanted to be a hero, and that is one of the ways that we will remember him," said Michael, 25, a Sarasota County sheriff's deputy.
Kyle, a seventh-generation Floridian, grew up the eldest of three boys in Sarasota.
Michael said he remembers spending summers in the Florida Keys with family, whileKyle would spend most of his time underwater playing with sea creatures.
"He just wanted to have fun in life," Michael said.
Kyle Jackson graduated in the mid-1990s from New Directions High School. Not a fan of school, he didn't attend college and instead joined the U.S. Marine Corps.
But he soon found himself hitting the books at officer candidate school.
Michael remembers his brother saying, "Look at me. I'm back in school, and I have to study."
Kyle served four years in the Marines - stationed in Washington and, for some time, in Kosovo.
"He loved what he did to serve the country," Michael said.
After his term with the Marines, Kyle Jackson joined his family's cabinetry business and worked a bit for a roofing business owned by his brother Thomas. But Michael said Kyle "just wasn't fulfilled doing stuff like that."
"He had a calling," Michael said.
So Kyle Jackson joined the U.S. Army and trained to fly. His family is particularly proud of something he invented called a "brass catcher." The invention, of which Kyle hand-made about 70 and distributed to other pilots, catches shell casings from assault rifles and keeps the casings from getting under the helicopter pedals. His goal was to prevent accidents.
"My father is very proud of that," Michael said.
The Jackson family visited Kyle in New York the day he left for Iraq, Oct. 13, 2005, Michael said.
"It was brief, but it was worth it," Michael said of the visit.
Since then, Kyle kept in touch, and Michael said he remembers his last conversation with him on Christmas Day.
"We talked on the phone for at most two minutes," Michael said. "That was the last goodbye."
Kyle's parents, Gary and Susan, logged onto their home computer Friday afternoon to check their e-mail. When they saw an online news report that two OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters had been shot down, they sensed something was wrong.
"Instantly she thought 'Oh my goodness,' " Michael said of his mother's reaction to the news. "My mom had a feeling - an unfamiliar feeling."
Knight Ridder Newspapers' veteran war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway reported that Friday began peacefully in Mosul, with residents observing the festival of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.
Galloway was with the second platoon of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry of the 172nd Stryker Brigade, when he saw two Kiowa Warrior helicopters - small craft that carry just two pilots - flying overhead.
Michael said his brother was a pilot on one of those choppers and that they were flying a "mother-hen" mission, in which the pilots would keep watch over soldier buddies on foot.
"The peace was shattered in an instant," Galloway reported. "There was the loud rattle of AK-47 rifles, punctuated by louder sounds of a machine gun."
Soon after the shooting the radio broadcast: "Chopper down! Chopper down!"
At the crash site, not far from where the ground patrol was, soldiers found two pilots, one with no pulse and the other with a faint pulse.
"Charlie Company's commanding officer, Capt. Kent Park of Houston, rolled in and swiftly followed up on the OH-58D wingman's report that the helicopters had received ground fire from the vicinity of a nearby mosque," Galloway reported from Iraq.
Hours later, the Jackson family received news that Kyle was dead.
"Kyle was my soulmate and best friend," said Betsy Jackson, Kyle's wife, in a written statement. "Kyle was a great father of two daughters - Aliah, 9, and Keira, 2. Kyle could find humor in anything and any place. Kyle is a hero to me and to the United States of America. I will miss him deeply but understand his sacrifice."
Kyle's father said he is very "proud of him, and it is a huge loss for us and the country."
A spokeswoman with the Defense Department declined to confirm Kyle Jackson's death. She said a rule requires the Pentagon to wait at least 24 hours after the notification of designated next of kin before releasing the name of a service member killed in Iraq.
Erica Rodriguez, Herald
reporter, can be reached at erodriguez@HeraldToday.com or at 745-7095.
Ellie
Family proud of fallen soldier's service
Sarasota native Kyle Jackson always 'wanted to be a hero'
ERICA RODRIGUEZ
Herald Staff Writer
SARASOTA - Family proud of fallen soldier's service: Sarasota native Kyle Jackson always 'wanted to be a hero'
Herald Staff Writer
Michael Lee Jackson never doubted his brother Kyle would come home from Iraq.
But three months to the day after the Jackson family last saw him, Kyle Edward Jackson, 28, a pilot with the U.S. Army, died. His OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter was shot down in Mosul on Friday.
"He wanted to be a hero, and that is one of the ways that we will remember him," said Michael, 25, a Sarasota County sheriff's deputy.
Kyle, a seventh-generation Floridian, grew up the eldest of three boys in Sarasota.
Michael said he remembers spending summers in the Florida Keys with family, whileKyle would spend most of his time underwater playing with sea creatures.
"He just wanted to have fun in life," Michael said.
Kyle Jackson graduated in the mid-1990s from New Directions High School. Not a fan of school, he didn't attend college and instead joined the U.S. Marine Corps.
But he soon found himself hitting the books at officer candidate school.
Michael remembers his brother saying, "Look at me. I'm back in school, and I have to study."
Kyle served four years in the Marines - stationed in Washington and, for some time, in Kosovo.
"He loved what he did to serve the country," Michael said.
After his term with the Marines, Kyle Jackson joined his family's cabinetry business and worked a bit for a roofing business owned by his brother Thomas. But Michael said Kyle "just wasn't fulfilled doing stuff like that."
"He had a calling," Michael said.
So Kyle Jackson joined the U.S. Army and trained to fly. His family is particularly proud of something he invented called a "brass catcher." The invention, of which Kyle hand-made about 70 and distributed to other pilots, catches shell casings from assault rifles and keeps the casings from getting under the helicopter pedals. His goal was to prevent accidents.
"My father is very proud of that," Michael said.
The Jackson family visited Kyle in New York the day he left for Iraq, Oct. 13, 2005, Michael said.
"It was brief, but it was worth it," Michael said of the visit.
Since then, Kyle kept in touch, and Michael said he remembers his last conversation with him on Christmas Day.
"We talked on the phone for at most two minutes," Michael said. "That was the last goodbye."
Kyle's parents, Gary and Susan, logged onto their home computer Friday afternoon to check their e-mail. When they saw an online news report that two OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters had been shot down, they sensed something was wrong.
"Instantly she thought 'Oh my goodness,' " Michael said of his mother's reaction to the news. "My mom had a feeling - an unfamiliar feeling."
Knight Ridder Newspapers' veteran war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway reported that Friday began peacefully in Mosul, with residents observing the festival of Eid al-Adha, or the feast of sacrifice.
Galloway was with the second platoon of Charlie Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry of the 172nd Stryker Brigade, when he saw two Kiowa Warrior helicopters - small craft that carry just two pilots - flying overhead.
Michael said his brother was a pilot on one of those choppers and that they were flying a "mother-hen" mission, in which the pilots would keep watch over soldier buddies on foot.
"The peace was shattered in an instant," Galloway reported. "There was the loud rattle of AK-47 rifles, punctuated by louder sounds of a machine gun."
Soon after the shooting the radio broadcast: "Chopper down! Chopper down!"
At the crash site, not far from where the ground patrol was, soldiers found two pilots, one with no pulse and the other with a faint pulse.
"Charlie Company's commanding officer, Capt. Kent Park of Houston, rolled in and swiftly followed up on the OH-58D wingman's report that the helicopters had received ground fire from the vicinity of a nearby mosque," Galloway reported from Iraq.
Hours later, the Jackson family received news that Kyle was dead.
"Kyle was my soulmate and best friend," said Betsy Jackson, Kyle's wife, in a written statement. "Kyle was a great father of two daughters - Aliah, 9, and Keira, 2. Kyle could find humor in anything and any place. Kyle is a hero to me and to the United States of America. I will miss him deeply but understand his sacrifice."
Kyle's father said he is very "proud of him, and it is a huge loss for us and the country."
A spokeswoman with the Defense Department declined to confirm Kyle Jackson's death. She said a rule requires the Pentagon to wait at least 24 hours after the notification of designated next of kin before releasing the name of a service member killed in Iraq.
Erica Rodriguez, Herald
reporter, can be reached at erodriguez@HeraldToday.com or at 745-7095.
Ellie