Army Pfc. Sean P. McCune

Died January 11, 2009 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Euless, Texas; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; died Jan. 11 in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

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25th ID soldier killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

JASPER, Ala. — A 20-year-old Army soldier originally from Walker County has been killed in Iraq.

Pvt. Sean P. McCune died Sunday in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries from a noncombat incident, Army officials said.

He was assigned to the Army’s 25th Infantry Division. Army records list McCune as being from Euless, Texas, but he grew up in Walker County, northwest of Birmingham, and graduated from Curry High School in 2006.

McCune’s mother, Sandra Gibson, told the Jasper Daily Mountain Eagle her son had wanted to enlist in the Army from the time he was 15. He enlisted in May 2008 and deployed to Iraq in October.

Gibson, who still lives in Walker County, said after her son graduated from high school she asked him to wait a year before making a final decision about enlisting. Even though he waited, she said he never wavered from wanting to serve his country.

Since deploying to Iraq, his few e-mails home were short and sweet, his mother said.

“I’m OK, and I love you,” he would write.

“He was fired up. He loved it. There was nothing about the Army that Sean didn’t love,” his mother said. She said her son wanted to become an Army Ranger.

Family members remembered McCune as a loving son and brother, who loved to make people laugh.

“He was mischievous to a fault. Whatever he could do to make somebody laugh, that was Sean,” Gibson said.

McCune loved joking around with his sisters — Amber McCune, 23; Natasha Gibson, 17; and Vicki Gibson, 11.

“He was a best friend. He would be there no matter what you needed, and he would make you laugh until your stomach hurt,” Amber McCune said.

“He was always good to talk to because he would listen to you about anything,” Natasha Gibson said.

Funeral arrangements for McCune have not been announced.

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Soldier enjoyed exercising his sweet tooth

The Associated Press

Sean P. McCune had an enormous sweet tooth. He bought $40 worth of candy and ate most of it while on leave last summer.

“You’d never know it by seeing him,” said his sister, Amber. “He was as skinny as they come. But he could eat anybody under the table.”

McCune, 20, of Euless, Texas, died Jan. 11 in Samarra, Iraq, of injuries from a non-combat incident. He was a 2007 high school graduate and was assigned to Schofield Barracks.

“He was kind of a gentle, sensitive kid,” said his father, Larry.

McCune loved to play video games and enjoyed wildlife and photography. Until a few months ago, he still shot photos on an old manual-everything, film-only Nikon camera.

“He wouldn’t hurt a flea,” his father said. “He preferred to shoot animals with a camera.”

McCune enjoyed making family game nights as rowdy as possible.

He got a Lord of the Rings Monopoly board because of his affection for J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy series.

“He was mischievous to a fault. Whatever he could do to make somebody laugh, that was Sean,” said his mother, Sandra Gibson.

He is also survived by his stepfather, Sandy Gibson.