Another local soldier lost in Iraq

[imported_OleTob]

Another local soldier dies in the line of duty in Iraq...Here's the link.

Scott County Soldier Dies in Iraq

[PVVikeFan]

It is so sad that our young men and women are giving their lives in a part of the world where so many people hate us. I hope I am wrong but sometimes I think Iraq is just another Vietnam without the jungles. The countries around Iraq will do whatever they can to keep a democratic government out of the Middle East. Sad.

i remember that kid. he had a lot of friends from GCHS even though he didnt go to school there full time. really good, smart kid. I think he got 1400 on his SAT. I don't have anything else to say without injecting politics so I'll leave it at that.

[GCHSBLUE]

I know the Mother and Step Father. Couldn't ask for better folks. This is truly a great tragedy for this family and all that knew him. Sad to see a young life taken for a hopeless cause.

All the work in the world won't bring peace or civil rights to this region. I wouldn't trade one of the Americans that have been killed for the entire country, but then I would make a pretty brutal leader, someone our foes wouldn't forget soon. If they elect their own leaders , then we have an elected group that hates. Is it worth it? Can we continue this pace forever, losing fathers, sons and brothers? All they have to do to be seen as "winning" is to survive. We freed France twice, Germany of Hitler and seems like the Italians were caught up in that somewhere. I don't even wanna mention Nam and Korea, anyone see a pattern in this? Anybody ever stand for the "Fire" and the sharp crack of the rifles , while someone holds the widow , and the starched blues move like robots , cause their in overdrive cause IT"S ONE OF THEIRS in the box under the flag that is going to be folded so tight, never to be displayed fully again. That will make you want to go places and kill every living thing.... but it still won't bring 'em back. So what do you do?

[Big_AL]

could someone copy and paste the article on here. for some of us that has and will not sign up for the web service. thanks.

[Xcat22]

Scott County family mourns soldier killed in Iraq
Wednesday, February 09, 2005

By RAIN SMITH
Reporter



Jeanette Poston said there was something different about her son's second deployment to Iraq.

For his 11-month tour in 2003, her "heart was in a vise" with a mother's worries for her soldier son, although she knew he'd be OK.

But since Zachary Ryan Wobler left for Iraq in December, she said the family has been tense, waiting for something to happen.

On Sunday evening, the bad news came. A van with government tags pulled into her driveway in the Snowflake community, and she knew that her 24-year-old son was dead.

Staff Sgt. Zach Wobler was killed by insurgent fire in Mosul, Iraq, Sunday morning. A member of the Army's 82nd Airborne division based in Fort Bragg, N.C., Wobler was a scout team leader.

While the Postons have received no official word on the circumstances surrounding Wobler's death, they have heard from soldiers in Iraq under his command.

According to soldiers in the scout team who have contacted the family, Wobler was on a rooftop in Mosul when he spotted suspicious activity. When he went onto the street, a firefight with insurgents ensued. The enemy retreated, and Wobler called in another scout team, awaiting them in the street.

"While they were waiting a car pulled up and just opened up on them," said stepfather Tim Poston. "He didn't have a chance. But they got one of (the insurgents) and said the rest of them crawled to the car wounded to get out of there."

Wobler, the attack's only casualty, was shot three times - in the arm, the leg and under his arm. The shot to Wobler's side proved fatal, missing his bulletproof jacket by "a fraction of an inch," according to soldiers under his command.

The bullet lodged in Wobler's liver and he bled to death, despite being transported for surgery.

Soldiers told the Postons their son remained dedicated to his country's cause to the very end. Medics had to sedate an angry Wobler, who demanded he be taken back to his troops.

"He was just so mad they had got him," Tim Poston said. "He was wanting to get back out there. Now, if the U.S. doesn't understand the kind of men they've got, that's it right there. That's a hero."

Wobler attended Gate City Middle School before moving to Ottawa, Ohio, with his father. Still, he stayed in Scott County with his mother and stepfather in the summer.

"He called this home," his mother said. "He told people he was a southern boy from Virginia."

Wobler is survived by his mother, stepfather, father, brother and 3-year-old daughter, Trinity. Wobler lived in Fayetteville, N.C.

Wobler's body arrived at Dover Air Force Base on Tuesday. His family said he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. No time and date for the funeral ceremony and burial has been set yet.

"He liked the military and believed in what he was doing - the purpose of it," Jeanette said.

"He told me there are some educated people in Iraq, and they appreciate what they're doing," Tim said. "It's just a lot of the news media and politicians are painting a bad picture of it."

That Wobler even served a second tour in Iraq is proof of his dedication. After suffering a knee injury on his first deployment, doctors told him in November that he needed surgery. Wobler refused, opting instead to go back with his soldiers to Iraq the next month.

"He said there was no way he was going to let his team go without him," Tim Poston said.

Wobler elected to join the Army full time in 2000 after a stint in Ohio's National Guard.

"If he was going to do it, he was going to do it right ...," said Tim Poston. "He wanted more, so he decided to go full time."

In 2002, Wobler was selected as the 2nd Brigade's Trooper of the Year. Having to accept the award before a crowd of 10,000 at Fort Bragg, the modest Wobler shied away from the hoopla.

"He was proud of the job he was doing but embarrassed for getting (Trooper of the Year)," Tim said. "He said, "?This is ridiculous and silly.' He didn't like the hoopla, that's the way he was. He was like, "?Let's get this over with and go have a beer.'"

The Postons said their son always liked working with his hands. As a kid he enjoyed woodwork, playing piano and guitar.

He also had a knack for "creative" mowing. During the Chicago Bulls' NBA title runs of the '90s Wobler, an avid fan, put the mower's blade on low and carved the team's logo in the yard.

He also had a zany sense of humor. As his older brother, Brandon, began shaving, Zach felt left out. One night, with no hair on his chin to trim, a 6-year-old Zach showed up at the dinner table void of eyebrows.

That lightheartedness was still evident in Wobler's e-mails to family.

"Another grand day in the armpit of the world," a message from Iraq begins.

In December, Wobler was one of 10 paratroopers in Fort Bragg's 18th Airborne Corps who took part in "The Late Show with David Letterman." As part of the Top Ten Questions to Ask Yourself Before Jumping out of a Helicopter, Wobler was number three. Standing in the doorway of a helicopter, he asked, "Am I really in that much of a hurry to get to the ground?" before jumping out.

In 2002, Wobler was handpicked as one of 20 paratroopers to re-enact the D-Day invasion of Normandy.

"He was so impressed with all the people who had lived through it, the French people that had took them in and were so glad for what America had done," Jeanette said.

With the men of Normandy, and soldiers of all American conflicts, Zachary Ryan Wobler is added to the list of those who have given their all.

Other local soldiers who lost their lives

Army Spc. Brandon Read, 21, of Greeneville, killed Sept. 6, 2004, in Qayyarah West, Iraq, by an improvised explosive device.


Army Chief Warrant Officer Scott Coulter, 35, of Bristol, Tenn., died Nov. 17, 2003, when his vehicle struck a homemade land mine on the way to Baquoba, Iraq.


Marine Cpl. Michael Speer, 24, Kingsport, was shot and killed April 9, 2004, in Anbar province.


Army Pfc. David Potter, 22, Johnson City, died Aug. 7, 2004, in Baghdad, Iraq, of non-combat-related injuries.


Jason Deibler, 20, Coeburn, Va., died May 4, 2004, at Camp New Jersey in Kuwait as the result of a non-combat-related gunshot wound.


Army Staff Sgt. Greg Pennington, 37, Konnarock, Va., died June 21, 2004, in Baghdad when his camp came under mortar attack.

[Big_AL]

thanks xcat.
My heart goes out to the family of this soldier. God speed.