Army Staff Sgt. Clint D. Ferrin

Died March 13, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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31, of Picayune, Miss.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 504th Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C.; killed March 13 when an improvised explosive device struck his military vehicle in Baghdad. Also killed were Sgt. Daniel J. Londono and Pfc. Joel K. Brattain.

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Slain soldier buried, awarded three posthumous medals

Associated Press

NORTH OGDEN, Utah — With 20 fellow members of the 82nd Airborne in attendance, Sgt. 1st Class Clint D. Ferrin was buried at Ben Lomond Cemetery.

Ferrin, 31, a native of the Ogden area, died with three other soldiers when their Humvee hit a roadside bomb in Baghdad.

At the cemetery Tuesday, Ferrin was given a 21-gun salute. Flags draping his casket were presented to his wife, Melinda Ferrin, and his mother, Rosemary Ferrin, as about 100 family members and friends gathered.

During funeral services earlier in the day, Ferrin, who had two children, Zachary, 6, and Madison, 3, was eulogized as a kind, devout and compassionate man who loved his family and enjoyed his work.

“He loved living,” said Robert Wood, area president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “This was a man who exuded life.... He loved his country, his family, his God.”

Master Sgt. Barry Leon remembered Ferrin as a “go-to guy.”

“If he had a mission, he would complete it,” said Leon.

Brig. Gen. Richard Rowe, of the 82nd Airborne, posthumously awarded Ferrin the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart and a Good Conduct Medal.

Quoting from remarks prepared by Capt. Michael Gonzalez, Ferrin’s commander in Iraq, Rowe said Ferrin “was the epitome of the noncommissioned officer: loyal, honest, hardworking and modest.”

Ferrin’s younger brother, Army Spc. John D. Ferrin, said the family was proud of the work Clint Ferrin did in Iraq.

“It makes me proud to wear the same uniform,” he said. “When he was going to Afghanistan or Kosovo, he said somebody has to do it.”

Clint Ferrin attended Weber High School until his family moved to Mississippi. He finished his senior year in Mississippi and joined the Army. His family returned to North Ogden after a few years.

He was a career soldier with Army service in Kosovo, Bosnia, Italy and Africa.