Army Pfc. Jennifer L. Cole

Died August 2, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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34, of American Canyon, Calif.; assigned to the 426th Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died Aug. 2 in Tikrit, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a non-combat-related incident.

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Mother: Soldier killed in Iraq loved country

The Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — The mother of a California soldier who died while serving in Iraq said the Fort Campbell soldier loved the country and the people.

The military said 34-year-old Army Pfc. Jennifer L. Cole of American Canyon died Saturday in Bayji, Iraq, from injuries in a non-combat incident. Officials said the cause is under investigation.

Cole was a motor transport operator assigned to E Company, 426th Forward Support Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

Cole’s mother, Candace Gholson, said her daughter enlisted in the Army a year ago after spending years as a floral designer. Gholson told The San Francisco Chronicle that Cole “thought we were really over there for a good purpose, and she loved the people and thought we were helping them, that we were making a difference.”

She is also survived by her husband, Lamont C. Capers, of Fort Campbell, Ky., and her father, James M. Cole II, of White Marsh, Md.

Cole was one of two 101st Airborne soldiers killed over the weekend. The military said 24-year-old Sgt. Ryan P. Baumann of Great Mills, Md., died Friday on Route Alaska, Afghanistan from wounds suffered when his vehicle hit an improvised explosive device.