Army Staff Sgt. Jeremiah E. McNeal

Died April 6, 2008 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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23, of Norfolk, Va.; assigned to the 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command, Virginia Army National Guard, West Point, Va.; died April 6 in Baghdad of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

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Army Staff Sgt. Jeremiah E. McNeal remembered

The Associated Press

Nikita McNeal met her husband, Jeremiah E. McNeal, more than six years ago at a Taco Bell restaurant, when he walked up to her, said, “You’re pretty,” and then walked away, she said. “That’s when he stole my heart. He always called me beautiful.”

McNeal, 23, of Norfolk, Va., was killed April 6 in Baghdad by an explosive. He was a 2002 high school graduate and was assigned to West Point, Va.

McNeal was quiet, his wife said, a “computer geek” who worked in technical support at the Norfolk office of defense contractor Raytheon. He attended to Tidewater Community College and was so involved in his church that some of his fellow Guardsmen called him “preacher man.”

“Staff Sgt. McNeal faced it with a cheerful smile and alleviated the fears of many soldiers solely through his presence,” Capt. Beau Mason said. “He was a part of our brotherhood that can never be replaced.”

He also is survived by a 4-year-old-son, Jordien, whom he loved spending time with. “They liked to play basketball, they liked to watch wrestling, and they liked to eat at Golden Corral,” said his wife.