Army Spc. Jimmy D. Buie

Died January 4, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

43, of Floral, Ark.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 153rd Infantry Regiment, 39th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Arkansas Army National Guard, Fordyce, Ark.; killed Jan. 4 when an improvised explosive devise detonated near his military vehicle in Taji, Iraq. Also killed were Spc. Jeremy W. McHalffey and Spc. Joshua S. Marcum.

---

Arkansas National Guardsman killed in Iraq bombing

By Angelia Roberts

Batesville Daily Guard / Associated Press

FLORAL, Ark. — Lisa Buie knew when she arrived home Tuesday night that the news was not good. Two military men, one of them a chaplain, were there to tell her that her husband had been killed in Iraq.

“I’ve been in the military before ... seen enough movies,” she said.

Jimmy Buie, 43, was a member of the Arkansas National Guard and was one of three Arkansas soldiers killed when an improvised bomb exploded along a roadside.

“He had went into the military after high school and gotten out. He thought about it for a while and then rejoined in August,” Buie said. In September, he spent a month training at Fort Hood, Texas, and the couple spent 3" days together in October.

“He was very good at calling. I talked with him Sunday evening. Every time I talked with him he was so upbeat,” she said.

In his civilian life, Buie worked in Batesville as a mechanic at Mark Martin Ford Mercury.

“His wife was just in here last week with cookies and pictures he had e-mailed from Iraq,” said Mooney Starr, general manager of the dealership.

“We were notified around 8:15 this morning. He was quiet, a hardworking guy,” Starr said. “We’ve been keeping in contact. He had a job when he came back.”

Starr said the company plans to do something to aid the family, possibly by opening an account.

Lisa Buie said neighbors brought food, and some women from the church had taken down her Christmas tree this morning.

“He refused to let himself be afraid. He knew so many people were praying for him, and he believed in his job and knew what he was doing was right,” she said. “I’m proud of him. I’m not angry. I refuse to dishonor his memory with anger.”

Others killed in the Tuesday attack were driver Spc. Joshua Marcum of Evening Shade and gunner Sgt. Jeremy McHalffey from Mabelvale. The soldiers were with the 2nd Platoon, Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion of Arkansas’ 39th Infantry Brigade.