Army Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams

Died April 8, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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25, of Santa Rosa, Calif.; assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division (Stryker Brigade Combat Team), Fort Lewis, Wash.; died April 8 in Balad, Iraq, of wounds suffered from small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in Baqubah, Iraq.

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Fort Lewis soldier, three Whidbey Island sailors killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

SANTA ROSA, Calif. — A Fort Lewis, Wash.-based soldier who won the Purple Heart on his first tour of duty in Iraq was killed during his second, his family said April 9.

Meanwhile, the Department of Defense reported that three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash., were killed April 6 near Kirkuk — the first Whidbey sailors killed in the war.

Army Staff Sgt. Jesse L. Williams, 25, was killed April 7 by a sniper, said Santa Rosa mayor Bob Blanchard, a family friend. Williams, who had been serving in Baghdad, was assigned to the 3rd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, based at Fort Lewis, Wash., his family said.

Snipers were Williams’ biggest fear in Iraq, Blanchard said. The mayor recalled Williams telling him on a recent trip home: “I can fight people eye to eye, but I can’t fight back if I can’t see them.”

Williams left behind a wife, Sonya, and their 11-month-old daughter, Amaya.

The three members of a bomb-disposal unit based at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island were Navy Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky.; Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho; and Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Joseph A. McSween, 26, of Valdosta, Ga.

The Defense Department did not immediately release the circumstances of their deaths.

Billiter’s father, Barry Billiter, said his son had been in the Navy for 15 years and was on his third tour of Iraq. Barry Billiter had been in touch with his son by e-mail and said he did not know how he died.

“He was a wonderful son,” he said.

Billiter was married and had one child. His wife is a seventh-grade science teacher at North Whidbey Middle School; pupils were advised of Billiter’s death in a written notice April 9, The Herald newspaper of Everett, Wash., reported.

The three sailors were assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11.

“We’re not the guys who go out and blow stuff up,” Chukk Fogel, who took bomb technician training with Hall, told the Everett newspaper. “We blow stuff up in safe areas. We blow stuff up to save personnel and property.”

Fogel, of San Diego, said Hall was fun-loving and not afraid to take risks.

Hall’s sister, Brenda Thiebeault, said the family was not ready to discuss his death.

Jesse Williams, who won the Purple Heart after shrapnel struck his arm during a clash with insurgents on his first tour, is now up for a Bronze Star for rescuing two soldiers from a burning vehicle three weeks ago, Mayor Blanchard said. In that case, the soldier’s unit came under attack and a roadside bomb ignited extra gasoline aboard a vehicle in which two of the occupants were trapped, he said.

He saw the white-hot fire of combat on both his tours. “He was right there,” Blanchard said. “And you know what? That was Jesse, that’s where he wanted to be.”

Shortly before he left for his second tour of duty around Christmas, the young soldier spoke before the Santa Rosa City Council to support a proposed memorial to honor men and women who died serving their country.

His father, Herb Williams, who was among those behind the effort, recounted those words April 8.

“Jesse thought he would come down and talk about it, and now his name is going to be in it. It’s just eerie,” the elder Williams told The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa.