Army Sgt. Faith R. Hinkley

Died August 7, 2010 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Colorado Springs, Colo.; assigned to 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; died Aug. 7 in Baghdad, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked her unit in Iskandariya, Iraq.

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Iraqi insurgents kill Lewis-McChord soldier

The Associated Press

JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. — The Defense Department on Monday said a soldier assigned here has died in Iraq.

Spc. Faith R. Hinkley, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colo., died on Saturday in Baghdad of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked her unit.

Hinkley was assigned to 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion, 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade.

Hinkley enlisted Aug. 27, 2007, and reported to Fort Jackson, S.C., for basic training and to Fort Huachuca, Ariz., for advanced training in her specialty, human intelligence collector.

She was a native of Monte Vista, in south-central Colorado, and attended school in Colorado Springs after graduating from high school in 2006.

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Flags fly half-staff for slain Colorado soldier

The Associated Press

DENVER — Flags will be flying at half-staff on state and federal buildings in Colorado in honor of a soldier from Monte Visa who was killed in Iraq.

Twenty-three-year-old Faith Hinkley was killed Aug. 7 when insurgents attacked her unit. She was a specialist at the time of her death but was promoted posthumously to sergeant.

U.S. and Colorado flags will fly at half-staff Tuesday by order of Gov. Bill Ritter.

Ritter plans to attend Hinkley’s funeral Tuesday at Monte Vista High School.

Hinkley was assigned to the 502nd Military Intelligence Battalion of the 201st Battlefield Surveillance Brigade at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

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Hinkley described as being ‘a cut above’

The Associated Press

When she was a teen, Spc. Faith Hinkley, of Colorado Springs, Colo., was a cheerleader, rooting for her Monte Vista High School Pirates.

Several years after graduating, nearly 1,000 mourners gathered in the gymnasium where Hinkley led cheers to pay their final respects. At 23, she was killed in an attack on her unit in Iskandariya.

“Faith stepped up when her nation needed her,” said Brig. Gen. Jim Pasquarette. “Faith Hinkley was a cut above.”

She had been assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The Pueblo Chieftan reported that Pasquarette also noted Hinkley had been an intelligence specialist in her first deployment, and had identified two enemy weapons caches.

Hinkley was committed to public service even before enlisting.

She served on her student council and mentored young girls through an association called the Rainbow Girls.

Hinkley’s father, David, said that when she told him of her decision to enlist in 2007, she cited the values of duty, honor and courage.