1979-2005
As of late Tuesday, the National Guard had not released the identities of the four soldiers killed Saturday in the latest bombing. But family members and employers identified them as Shelley, 34, of Valdosta; Sgt 1st Class Victor Anderson, 39, of Ellaville; Sgt David R. Jones, 45, of Augusta and Spc Jonathon Haggin, 26, of Kingsland.
Haggin's father-in-law, Ted Martinez, described him as a gung-ho former Marine who refused to quit fighting after he suffered two broken ribs in a similar roadside blast three weeks ago. "He was so ready to get out there and fight, the leader of his troop had to hide his guns and ammunition so he could wait for orders. He was still injured," said Martinez of St. Marys.
Haggin had served in Iraq during the 2003 invasion with the Marine Corps, and had been a sniper instructor at Camp Pendleton, Calif. After leaving the Marines and moving to coastal Georgia, he worked as a security guard at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base.
Martinez said Haggin had been scheduled to return home soon to see his 2 1/2-year-old daughter, Leaundra, and his wife, Anna, who is about 3 1/2 months pregnant.
"That's kind of the hardest part," Martinez said.
From my own words.....
I met "Johnny boy" in Balad, Iraq. We arrived at the medical center the same day at the same time. He could barely even walk and it hurt him to breathe because his humvee was hit by an IED, the night prior, and he had broken a few of his ribs. John and I where friends from the beginning, the first night we talked and watched the movie Sniper 3. The second night we watched all 3 Indiana Jones movies. We also had a roommate who we got to know and become friends with, Heywood. We did a lot of hanging out with him until he departed back to the states.
He was a really cool person with a love for life and the Marine Corps and daughter. He kept on telling me how much he hated being "nasty" in the Army and couldn't wait to come back to The Marines. We went to Germany together and hung out EVERY day. He would come to my door and knock starting sometimes at 0500, and continue to knock on the hour until I got my "lazy ass" out of bed (usually around noon). Every night during bed check in Germany, for chuckles and to piss Army Soldiers off, I would wear some Air Force PT gear with a mixture of Marine Corps PT gear, and I needed some Army PT gear to add to my collection. He gave me his Army PT shorts. In exchange I gave him a HMLA-775 T-Shirt.
John had a great sense of humor. He loved to look at the ladies, but was shy when it came down to talking OR DANCING with them. John had white boy’s syndrome when it came to dancing. Days went by and I was leaving and he was scheduled to leave the day after. I went to Frankfort to fly out, and spent the night. The next day guess who shows up, John! Side kicks again! We hug out a lot with “Mom”, “Barry”, “Kari”, "Sheri”, “Mary”, “Larry” (this is all one person by the way, she was the one who kept us in line.), her Name is Terri and she is in the Navy. Terri took care of us rascals and watched out for us. That's why we called her our Mom. We flew out of Germany together, and we hung out with Castello, and gave each other “white people” nick names, mine was Clarence White, Castello's was Fletcher Davenport, and John’s I can’t remember BUT his Irish name was “Buckets O’Leary”. I personally made his name for him. The last place each other was Qatar. There we said goodbye, and told each other to stay safe. I wish I could have known you longer, and hung out with you in California. You bastard, you still owe me a drink and some money!
In my eyes, he did not die a solider, but a Corporal of Marines, a devoted Father and a damn good friend. Rest in peace, Semper Fi buddy!
