Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 2nd Class Tony Michael Randolph

Died July 6, 2009 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

---

22, of Henryetta, Okla.; assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit Eight, Sigonella, Italy, and was deployed with his platoon to Joint Task Force South conducting counter-improvised explosive device operations in support of Task Force Zabul in Afghanistan; died July 6 in an improvised explosive device attack on his convoy in Zabul province, Afghanistan.

---

IA killed in explosion in Afghanistan

Staff and wire reports

A 22-year-old individual augmentee was killed July 6 when his convoy was hit by an improvised explosive device in northern Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department.

Rogers Funeral Home in Henryetta, Okla., confirmed July 7 it is handling arrangements for Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 2nd Class (PJ/DV) Tony Randolph.

Randolph was assigned to Combined Security Transition Command, according to the Defense Department release.

Navy records show that Randolph, who enlisted in 2005, had received a Bronze Star with valor device and a Purple Heart.

Henryetta High School football coach Kenny Speer said Randolph was an all-district lineman for Henryetta who also competed as a powerlifter.

---

IA sailor killed in Afghanistan laid to rest

The Associated Press

HENRYETTA, Okla. — An Oklahoma sailor who died in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan was remembered in funeral services for his fire and determination.

Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 2nd Class Tony Michael Randolph, 22, was killed while riding in a convoy in southern Afghanistan on July 6.

Kenny Speer, Randolph’s high school football coach, eulogized the young sailor Wednesday, his voice often cracking with emotion.

He recounted a story of how Randolph kept running around the track because he wouldn’t say “yes, sir” when Speer asked him whether he had enough. Randolph, the coach said, finally said “yes, sir,” but in Spanish.

Speer told mourners that Randolph also had a serious side when he spoke about the military and his mission.

“He was a born leader,” Speer said.

Randolph was a three-year starter and standout on the football team, where he played tackle. He also was involved in champion-class power lifting.

He graduated from Henryetta High School in 2005 and joined the U.S. Navy the following year. He deployed in March to Afghanistan, where his job was to defuse bombs.

The Rev. Jim Paslay, who officiated at the service, said he last saw Randolph in December and described him as a “man on a mission. He seemed to understand what he wanted to do.”

Paslay said the news of Randolph’s death overwhelmed him, as it did much of the community who knew the sailor.

Paslay told mourners he had read the Navy’s creed, and three words — honor, courage and commitment — stood out.

“That’s what the Navy is all about,” Paslay said, “and that’s what Tony was all about.

“We should be grateful today as people for having someone like that.”

For years, Randolph was stationed at Norfolk, Va. He also attended Navy schools at Panama City and Pensacola, Fla.

Randolph was a demolitions expert and was classified as an explosives ordnance demolition technician. He was based at Sigonella, Sicily, before he deployed to Afghanistan.

He was buried at Hillcrest Cemetery in Weleetka.

---

Determination was Randolph’s hallmark

The Associated Press

Tony Michael Randolph was tough. He was a three-year starter, all-district lineman on Henryetta (Okla.) High School’s football team and was involved in champion-class power lifting.

Randolph was so determined that he once refused to stop running around the track because he didn’t want to say “yes, sir” when football coach Kenny Speer asked whether he’d had enough. Randolph finally said those two words — but in Spanish.

“You’re not going to find a kid that would work harder than he worked,” Speer said. “He knew what direction he wanted his life to go toward.”

Randolph, 22, died July 6 after the vehicle he was riding in struck a roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan. The demolitions expert was based at Sigonella, Sicily.

He graduated in 2005 and joined the Navy the following year. The Rev. Jim Paslay, who officiated at his funeral, said he’d recently read the Navy’s creed, and three words — honor, courage and commitment — stood out.

“That’s what the Navy is all about,” Paslay said, “and that’s what Tony was all about.”

Randolph is survived by his parents, Fred and Peggy Randolph of Weleetka, along with two stepbrothers and two stepsisters.