
A registered nurse assigned to Fort Bliss’ 31st Combat Support Hospital died in Iraq on Sunday morning, Department of Defense officials announced Tuesday.
Capt. Gussie M. Jones, 41, was a nurse at Beaumont Army Medical Center’s intensive care unit here, and she had volunteered to serve as a medical surgical nurse in Baghdad. Army officials said she was having symptoms similar to those exhibited by heart attack victims, but her death in Baghdad is still under investigation.
“Beaumont is sad and in disbelief. Why would someone be taken away so young?” Clarence Davis III, Beaumont spokesman, said of the hospital’s first Iraq war death. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family. We regret their loss.”
Davis said a memorial for Jones is tentatively scheduled for Friday.
She was the 12th soldier with El Paso ties to die in Iraq since the operation...