Army Pfc. John T. Bishop

Died April 23, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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22, of Gaylord, Mich.; assigned to the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Ky.; died April 23 in Balad, Iraq, of injuries sustained in a vehicle incident.

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Three Fort Campbell soldiers killed in two days

The Associated Press

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Three Fort Campbell-based soldiers, including one from Georgia, have been killed in two days in Iraq in separate incidents, according to the Department of Defense.

The Army says staff Sgt. Shaun J. Whitehead was struck and killed by a bomb while patrolling on foot in Iskandariyah on Thursday. Whitehead, 25, from Commerce, Ga., was assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.

The day before Whitehead’s death, John T. Bishop, 22, of Gaylord, Mich., and 1st Lt. Timothy W. Cunningham, 26, of College Station, Texas, died in Golden Hills, Iraq, from injuries suffered when their vehicle rolled into a canal. The deaths are under investigation.

Both were assigned to C Troop, 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division.

Including the three deaths, six soldiers from the base on the Tennessee-Kentucky state line have died in the last week.

Whitehead entered the Army in September 2003. He is survived by his wife, Brenda, a son and a daughter, all of Fort Campbell, and his mother, Rebecca Whitehead, of Maysville, Ga.

Whitehead attended Commerce High School and joined the Army in 2003, the Athens Banner-Herald reported.

“He was a nice young man. Didn’t get into trouble, a nice kid,” Commerce High School counselor Elaine Roller told the newspaper.

His funeral is being handled by Evans Funeral Home in Jefferson.

Cunningham joined the Army in May 2006 and came to Fort Campbell in April 2007. The infantry officer completed U.S. Army Ranger school and earned a Parachutist Badge. He is survived by his wife, daughter and parents.

Bishop, an infantryman, joined the Army in August 2006 and came to Fort Campbell in January 2007. He earned several awards, including the Army Good Conduct Medal and the Expert Infantry Badge. He is survived by his wife and parents.

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Soldier loved all things adventure

By Joe Rossiter

Detroit Free Press

When Pfc. John Bishop arrived home from Iraq in March on an 18-day leave, family members recalled his euphoria upon seeing the foot-and-a-half snow base outside their Gaylord home.

Next to his loved ones, the sight of snow was the best thing for the snowmobile enthusiast.

Mr. Bishop, 22, was one of two soldiers of the Army’s 101st Airborne Division out of Ft. Campbell, Ky., who died April 23 while on patrol in Golden Hills, Iraq.

For Mr. Bishop, a young daredevil who used to skydive over Grand Traverse Bay, adventure was as much a part of his persona as his dedication to the country when, following in the footsteps of his father and two brothers, he enlisted in the Army nearly two years ago.

“He was a genuine thrill-seeker,” said his sister, Jennifer Tye.

Born in Royal Oak, Mr. Bishop grew up in St. Clair Shores, and the family moved to Gaylord in 2000. After enlisting in the Army in August 2006, he was deployed to Iraq a year later.

Two months before his departure, he married Diane Caddell in a Las Vegas wedding chapel.

In addition to his wife and sister, survivors include his parents, John and Gaye Bishop; brothers Bernie Bishop and Kevin Tye; sister, Lisa Katchmark, and grandparents Arthur and Marlene LeCuru.

Funeral services are at 9 a.m. Friday at the Gaylord Evangelical Free Church, 1649 E. M-32, Gaylord. Visitation will precede services at 8 a.m. at the church.

Burial with full military honors will take place later in the day at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly.

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Flags to be lowered to honor soldier

The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered flags to be lowered Friday in honor of a soldier who died in Iraq while on active duty.

Army Pfc. John Bishop of Gaylord died April 23 from injuries he sustained in a vehicle crash. He was 22.

Bishop was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 32nd Cavalry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at Fort Campbell, Ky.

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Army Pfc. John T. Bishop remembered

The Associated Press

If it involved speed or danger, John T. Bishop was right there.

“He was an avid snowmobiler. He liked to fish and skydive. He liked to do dangerous things. He was a risk-taker,” said his father, John William Bishop.

Bishop, 22, of Gaylord, Mich., died April 23 when his vehicle rolled over in a canal in Golden Hills. He was assigned to Fort Campbell.

“John always looked up to the other military members in our family,” said his sister, Jennifer. “He felt joining the Army was his duty and the honorable thing to do. We were all so proud of him and never once did he regret his decision.”

He reveled in the joy of zooming along the northern landscape on his Arctic Cat with the wind whipping in his face, and would skydive over Grand Traverse Bay.

While home, Bishop made a point of visiting each member of his large clan scattered throughout Michigan and spent four days crisscrossing the state to do so. “He was usually the glue that held everything together and always had a knack for solving family problems,” said his sister.

He also is survived by his wife, Diane.