Army Sgt. Jack T. Hennessy

Died October 1, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Naperville, Ill.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Hood, Texas; killed Oct. 1 when his check point came under small-arms fire in Baghdad.

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Illinois soldier killed in Iraq remembered as solid young man

Associated Press

NAPERVILLE Ill. — Like many high school students, Jack Hennessy wanted to go to college. He loved the idea of studying history, and he was thinking about a career in law enforcement.

But he also knew there was something he would do first: become a soldier.

“He believed in what it (the military) stood for,” said his mother, Cindy Hennessy. “Serving our country.”

On Friday, Sgt. Jack Hennessy, 21, was killed at a traffic checkpoint near Baghdad while serving in the 1st Cavalry Division. “At some point it looked like a car got through and (the official report) said he got hit by small arms fire,” said Bernie Hennessy, his father.

Hennessy had competed in wrestling, gymnastics and soccer at Naperville Central High School, and was the rare teenager who didn’t seem particularly concerned about following others, instead choosing to think for himself, his parents said.

When he decided to go into the Army, they didn’t try to dissuade him.

“We love our country and we love our children and you support your children’s’ decision to do what they want to do with their life,” said his father.

After enlisting during his senior year, he went to boot camp during the summer of 2001. When terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon a month later, Hennessy simply accepted what he might be asked to do. “He understood that we were at war and he understood fully that he could be put in harm’s way,” said his father.

His mother understood it, too, and even before Hennessy was shipped overseas she and another woman started a “Prayer Warrior” campaign in which they made red, white and blue bracelets inscribed with the names of soldiers.

“This was a way to remind people to pray for those soldiers,” she said. “Our way of supporting our troops.”

As the debate over the war in Iraq grew, Hennessy kept focused on what he was supposed to do, said his father.

“He understood the military’s role is not to set policy, (but) to implement policy,” he said.

From half a world away, Bernie and Cindy Hennessy could see from phone calls, letters and e-mail messages that their son was growing up, and that the military had helped shape him.

“We were very proud that he developed from a boy into an independent, competent professional decision maker,” said his father.

They could also see that he was developing in ways that perhaps only someone who has seen battle can.

“He’d written after one of his squad mates was killed that God has a plan for us and felt God had a plan for however long our allotted time is,” said his father.