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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Army Sgt. Luther W. Rabon Jr.
Died October 1, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom
32, of Lexington, S.C.; assigned to the 1221st Engineer Clearance Company, South Carolina National Guard, Graniteville, S.C.; died Oct. 1 in the Orgun district of Paktika province, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his military vehicle with an improvised explosive device. Also killed was Staff Sgt. Willie J. Harley Jr.
2 South Carolina Guard soldiers killed in Afghanistan
The Associated Press
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two soldiers with the South Carolina Army National Guard were killed in Afghanistan, the state adjutant general’s office announced Monday.
Spec. Luther Rabon, 32, of Lexington and Staff Sgt. Willie Harley, 48, of Aiken died last Friday when an improvised explosive device hit the vehicle they were riding in, Adjutant General Stan Spears said in a statement.
Both soldiers were assigned to the 1221st Engineer Clearance Company of the state Army National Guard with units in Graniteville and Batesburg, Spears said.
The 1221st deployed to Afghanistan in July. Its mission is to clear roadways for military convoys. The unit is set to return to South Carolina next summer.
WLTX-TV showed footage of Rabon taken as the company prepared to leave. Rabon was seen kissing his mother, who said her son was going to miss his wife and four young children.
“He’s really got a lot to leave behind,” Martha Rabon told the television station. “But he’s willing to do that for our freedom and to defend our country, and I’m really proud of him.”
Was a dedicated husband, father
The Associated Press
Luther “Will” Rabon was remembered as a self-proclaimed mama’s boy who adored his children and enjoyed dirt track racing and riding motorcycles.
A photo posted on Facebook showed Rabon posing with his car, which was painted fire-engine red with a Confederate flag painted on the hood — a vehicle that called to mind The General Lee, the super-fast Dodge Charger driven by the characters of television’s “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
On the door was painted a white No. 52.
“Do you remember the work we put in this car in 1 night so Will could get out there and hit the wall in it the next night? Good times,” a friend, Lee McCullough, wrote on Facebook.
Rabon was killed by a roadside bomb Oct. 1 in Paktika province, Afghanistan. He was based in Graniteville, S.C., with the state’s National Guard.
An obituary posted online said Rabon also enjoyed hunting, boating, shooting pool and playing golf.
Friends and relatives recalled in online postings that Rabon was dedicated to his wife, Catherine; children, Summer, Grace and Trinity; and parents, Luther and Martha.