Army Staff Sgt. Aaron N. Holleyman

Died August 30, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Glasgow, Mont.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, Fort Campbell, Ky.; killed Aug 30 when his military vehicle hit an improvised explosive device in Khutayiah, Iraq.

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Mississippi soldier killed in Iraq convoy attack

Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi native who was a medic with the 5th Special Forces Group was killed Monday in an attack on his convoy in Iraq.

Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman, 27, died when his vehicle hit a land mine, his grandmother, Sylvia Carpenter of Monticello, told the Enterprise-Journal on Tuesday.

He was one of four soldiers in the last vehicle of the convoy. Three other soldiers suffered minor injuries. The 5th Special Forces Group is based in Fort Campbell, Ky.

Holleyman is the son of Ross and Glenda Holleyman of Carthage.

“The only point that I want to get across is that we fully supported what Aaron was over there doing,” Glenda Holleyman said Tuesday.

Ross Holleyman said the military notified the family Monday of their son’s death. He said his son had suffered some hearing loss during an earlier incident and would not have been required to go back to Iraq but had volunteered.

The family said services were pending.

Holleyman was the father of three children, ages 5, 3 and 1. Sylvia Carpenter said the children live in Fayetteville, N.C., with their mother.

Sylvia Carpenter said Holleyman had just returned to Iraq in July after being stateside for treatment of injuries received earlier in Iraq. He received the Purple Heart and Bronze Star for his service.

“He had two close calls last year,” Sylvia Carpenter said.

In 2003, Holleyman was in a vehicle accident in Iraq and saved the life of one of the soldiers. He also was injured in a separate accident, she said.

“Aaron loved what he was doing. It really was close to his heart,” she said. “He felt proud to be doing what he was doing. From the way everything has happened and his attitude, he’s just our hero.”

Monticello Mayor Dave Nichols said the flag in front of City Hall was at half-staff in honor of Holleyman.

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Mississippi soldier killed in Iraq buried

CARTHAGE, Miss. — About 300 family members and friends attended funeral services for a Fort Campbell soldier who was killed in Iraq a week ago.

Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman, 26, died when his vehicle hit a land mine on Aug. 30 in Iraq. He was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based out of Fort Campbell, Ky.

An honor guard from Fort Campbell attended the Tuesday funeral at Trinity Baptist Church in Carthage. Holleyman was buried in Monticello Baptist Church cemetery in Lawrence County in Mississippi.

Holleyman was born in Rankin County and attended school in Clinton. He later graduated from high school in Glasgow, Mont. He enlisted in the Army in 1996.

“Glenda and I have lost our son,” his father, the Rev. Ross Holleyman, said during the funeral service, “but we have not lost our hope. We love this great country but our hope is built on something far greater and more lasting than this country ... his name is Jesus.”

Holleyman is survived by two daughters and a son in Fayetteville, N.C.

— Associated Press

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Soldiers honor Special Forces comrade killed in Iraq

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman’s former commander remembered him as a “commander’s choice” for his intelligence and grit during his service in Iraq.

Capt. Daniel Diamond, who led Holleyman during the sergeant’s first tour in Iraq, recalled his memories Thursday during a memorial service at Fort Campbell.

Holleyman, 26, died Aug. 30 when his vehicle hit a land mine in Iraq. He was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) based at Fort Campbell, Ky.

“I like to call him a friend. He was a commander’s choice because he was intelligent and hardworking. He had a plethora of qualities that I would admire for a lifetime,” said Diamond, who spoke Thursday in the post’s Memorial Chapel.

Holleyman, a Mississippi native, was buried on Tuesday after a funeral at Trinity Baptist Church in Carthage, Miss. He was buried at Monticello Baptist Church cemetery in Lawrence County.

Diamond said Holleyman was loyal to football teams in his state.

“He was a sports enthusiast, and he loved Mississippi football, and he loved his family,” Diamond said after Thursday’s memorial.

According to the memorial service booklet that told Holleyman’s life story, he participated in more than 100 combat missions in western Iraq. On one occasion, he was wounded along with two other soldiers, but he treated his injured comrades before himself, the pamphlet said.

Staff Sgt. Joe Briscoe, who was injured while in Iraq and lost part of his right arm during a rocket-propelled grenade attack, talked about meeting Holleyman on Oct. 31, 2003.

“I was on a stretcher, and I looked up and saw Aaron,” Briscoe said during the memorial service. “He assured me everything was going to be OK. You wouldn’t believe what that meant to me.”

Briscoe said when he was taken on a medevac helicopter, Holleyman “never left my side and stayed with me the whole time. He always had a smile and respect for a fellow team member.”

Holleyman was born in Rankin County in Mississippi and attended school in Clinton. He later graduated from high school in Glasgow, Mont. He enlisted in the Army in 1996.

Holleyman is survived by two daughters and a son in Fayetteville, N.C.

— Associated Press