Erickson H. Petty
Profile
Age: 28
From: Fort Gibson, Okla.
Assigned to Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Armor Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Smith Barracks, Baumholder, Germany
Incident: Army Staff Sgt. Erickson H. Petty was killed by small-arms fire May 3 while conducting security of a weapons cache in Salman al Habb, Iraq.
Died: May 03, 2004
Fort Gibson mourns Colorado soldier killed in Iraq
By Clayaton Bellamy
Associated Press
FORT GIBSON, Okla. — Staff Sgt. Eric Petty, who gave up his military recruiting job in Colorado to fight in Iraq, was remembered in May 11 funeral services as a brave, dedicated soldier devoted to family and church.
Hundreds of family members, friends and fellow soldiers mourned as Petty was buried at Fort Gibson National Cemetery. Under the shade of a brick pavilion, Petty’s relatives sobbed as seven soldiers each fired three shots and a bugler blew Taps.
“Eric Petty was a patriot,” pastor Tom Barlament said. “Eric Petty was a hero. Eric Petty loved his country.”
Petty, 28, who grew up in Fort Gibson, was killed by small arms fire May 3 while providing security at a weapons cache in Salman Al Habb, Iraq.
Petty, who would have turned 29 a day later, was married to his high school sweetheart, Kim, and had a 9-year-old...