Army Spc. Benyahmin B. Yahudah

Died July 27, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Bogart, Ga.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Ga.; killed July 13 when a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol in Baghdad.

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Medic killed in Iraq ‘interested in saving lives’

Associated Press

ATHENS, Ga.— Spc. Benyahmin Ben Yahudah, who died in a Baghdad suicide bombing that also killed 20 children, was eulogized as a soldier who was “much more interested in saving lives” than in taking them.

Yahudah, a combat medic from Bogart, “felt that saving lives was his calling,” Brig. Gen. Ronald Silverman said in a service at Evergreen Memorial Park.

Yahudah, 24, was killed July 13 as he tried to move the children out of the area as soldiers conducted a search, said 1st Sgt. James Baugh, who served with Yahudah in Iraq.

Yahudah and the other soldiers enjoyed handing out candy and toys to the Iraqi children, Baugh said, though he was not doing so when he was killed, as previously thought.

Called “Doc” by his fellow soldiers, Yahudah was “an outstanding medic, kind and caring,” said Rabbi Jacob Goldstein, who came from New York to perform the service. “He went the extra mile,” Goldstein said. “He will be missed by all.”

Yahudah had been in Iraq since January in his first deployment with the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division from Fort Stewart. He earned a Good Conduct medal, a Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his service.

Family friend Mark Kelly said the Bogart community “is both saddened and damn proud of this young man.”

“He was one of ours,” Kelly said, overcome with emotion.