<font size="6"><center>
Guardsman wrote his obit
before going to war</font size></center>
<font size="3"><center>It is an unwelcome, sorrowful number: 2,000.
That is the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq. One of the faces
behind that number is James Kinlow. During his 18 years in the Georgia
National Guard, Kinlow settled into a peaceful, small-town life focused more
on being a citizen than a soldier. Before he deployed to Iraq,
he wrote his own obituary</font size></center>
James Kinlow survived six weeks in Iraq,
chronicling his fears in a journal.
THOMSON, Georgia (AP) -- During his 18 years in the Georgia National Guard, James Kinlow settled into a peaceful, small-town life focused more on being a citizen than a soldier.
Kinlow had married his high-school sweetheart and rarely missed the Lincoln County Red Devils' home football games. He worked in a lumber yard and drove a freight truck. The citizen-soldiers he trained with every month included family friends and former teachers; he cracked them up with his imitations of the officers.
Then, late last year, he got the news: He was going to war.
So between Christmas and New Year's, he tore off two sheets of notebook paper and wrote out his life in summary, with a blank for the newspapers to fill in later, beginning with the end.
"Mr. James O. Kinlow, 35, of Holt St. died -------- in Iraq."
Nearly seven months later, the sentence was completed.
He died on July 24. He did not die alone; three of his comrades died as well. All together, 18 soldiers in the Georgia-based 48th Infantry Brigade have fallen since their arrival in Iraq in June, sad examples of the bloody price paid by U.S. citizen-soldiers in this war.
Since the March 2003 invasion, at least 487 National Guard or Reserve troops have died in Iraq, nearly 1 in 4 U.S. casualties. These are not professional soldiers. These are the people who sell us insurance, drive our trucks, fix our cars.
"The Guard is different in the respect that these folks are seen around town every day, driving a deputy sheriff's patrol car or working at the 7-11 or teaching high school," said U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Georgia. "These are everyday folks who have been commanded to go to war."
Journal chronicled fears
Folks like James Kinlow, who survived just six weeks in that hostile land. His journal from those weeks depicts a Guard unit quickly coming to grips with unpredictable dangers.
He encounters his first roadside bomb during his third mission June 10. "We heard this big bang and saw black smoke. We immediately sped up and blocked off the road. We went looking for the suspects but never found anyone. Today I was really scared."
On June 13, he frets over orders to raid a house and take detainees. "I really didn't want to do this. They said that there would probably be a lot of shooting. But the Lord answered my prayers and it was called off. The bad part is that we have to do this tonight at 2400 hrs."
On June 26: "We had a crew to get hit tonight. Steed, Williams, Haggin, Jones, Hosendole. They were all injured but none life threatening. This is the first time people from our Co. were injured. This Really Hit Home Tonight."
Kinlow's final entry, July 23, ends on a happier note -- "Got my leave." He could look forward to two weeks at home in mid-August.
The next day, the unseen bomb ripped through the armor of Kinlow's Humvee. He was at the wheel, Sgt. Carl Fuller led the patrol squad, Spc. Gus Brunson manned the machine gun, and Spc. John Frank Thomas sat ready with his rifle in the back. None survived.
They were the first combat casualties for the 48th Brigade since World War II. And the carnage continued with shocking swiftness. Another roadside bomb killed four more 48th soldiers July 30. On August 3, three more died when a suicide car bomber hit their checkpoint.
Eleven dead in 11 days. In Georgia, a state that's home to 13 military bases and has deployed thousands of active-duty troops to Iraq since 2003, these deaths hit particularly hard.
Gov. Sonny Perdue wept openly at a news conference. From the statehouse to office buildings, factories and school classrooms, the entire state paused for a moment of silence August 18.
FULL STORY: http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/10/25/iraq.soldier.story.ap/index.html
