Army Spc. Jason C. Ford

Died March 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Bowie, Md.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, based in Schweinfurt, Germany; killed March 13 when his patrol hit an improvised explosive device in Tikrit, Iraq.

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When Spc. Jason C. Ford’s unit arrived in Tikrit, Iraq, to take over security duties, the soldier was uneasy. When he called his father and stepmother, he told them of hearing gunfire during his first patrol in Tikrit, the site of frequent attacks on U.S. soldiers.

“I could hear the anxiety. It was almost like he was saying to himself, ‘This is the real thing,’” said his father, Joseph Ford. Days later, on March 13, the 21-year-old soldier from Bowie, Md., was killed when a roadside bomb exploded next to his Humvee while he was on just his second patrol in Tikrit.

People gravitated to the soldier because of his happy demeanor, his stepmother said. “He was just sweet, a good child,” Irene Ford said. “There was nobody who didn’t like him.”

Joseph Ford said the Army gave his son structure and some “growing up.” The Vietnam veteran said he tried to reassure his son that his training would get him through his tour in Iraq.

— Associated Press