Army Sgt. John E. Cooper

Died January 15, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

29, of Ewing, Ky.; assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, Fort Bliss, Texas; died Jan. 15 in Mosul, Iraq, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations. Also killed were 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily, Sgt. Ian C. Anderson and Spc. Matthew T. Grimm.

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High school hosts service for fallen soldier

The Associated Press

FLEMINGSBURG, Ky. — An Army sergeant killed in a bombing in Iraq was memorialized Jan. 28 at the Kentucky high school where he graduated.

Sgt. John E. Cooper, 29, was one of four soldiers killed in Mosul earlier in January when a roadside bomb hit their vehicle.

Family, friends and supporters gathered the afternoon of Jan. 28 at Fleming County High School to remember Cooper. His brother, Terry, told gatherers he feels a swelling of pride when he thinks of Cooper’s service.

“I thought I knew what pride was,” Terry Cooper said. But he said his brother’s death in combat “made me feel a pride I’d never felt before.”

Terry Cooper said he has received calls, letters and visits from people in the community after his brother’s death.

Cooper’s two young nieces read poems at the service.

His casket was draped with a flag, pictures of him hung nearby, and patriotic flower arrangements surrounded his coffin.

He was an infantryman with 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, at Fort Bliss, Texas. He joined the Army shortly after graduating from high school in 1995.

He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantry Badge and a Purple Heart.

The three others killed in the blast were 2nd Lt. Mark J. Daily, 23, of Irvine, Calif.; Sgt. Ian C. Anderson, 22, of Prairie Village, Kan.; and Spc. Matthew T. Grimm, 21, of Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.

Supportive groups brought members from as far away as Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia, and lined the entrance the high school with flags in hand.

“We do this to show respect for the family and for the fallen soldier,” said Bill Miller, a member of the Patriot Guard, a group of motorcycle riders.