From Ocala.com: “Mama. The Army people are here. Something's happened to Scooter,” Wanda told her.
Tonight, we remember a 20 year old soldier, recently married and expecting a child. He was the last U.S. casualty of the 310 in 2012.
Since 2001, there have been 2174 American troops killed in Afghanistan. Since January 1, 2012 there were 310 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan. Please take a moment to honor their sacrifice.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.
DoD announces Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Pfc. Markie T. Sims, 20, of Citra, Fla., died Dec. 29 in Panjwal, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 38th Engineer Company, 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, under control of the 7th Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
Pfc. Markie Sims was a 2011 graduate of Marion Technical Institute and North Marion High School. After graduating from MTI, he enlisted in the Army.
In October, he married Shakeli and she is pregnant.
His mother, Wanda, said:
“I didn't want him to go,” recalled Wanda Thompson, “because of the stuff that happens there. That's my baby. He was a boy. I didn't want him to go.”
Sims played football in high school. He was remembered by the Head Coach, Craig Damon:
“A very hardworking young man who always had a smile on his face,” Damon said during a telephone interview with the Star-Banner. “Regardless of how things were going, you could always count on him to have a smile on his face to motivate me even when I didn't want to be motivated sometimes.
“Everybody was just shocked (learning of the death). You hear about it, you see about it on TV, but you never think it's going to be anybody you know, somebody personal,” Damon said. “It just goes to show you that life is very fragile and you need to make sure you take advantage of the opportunities you have with your loved ones and don't take anything for granted.”
Demario Sims, brother of Markie, followed in Markie's footsteps and had played footblal then enlisted in the Army. He was to start basic training on January 6th, his brother's birthday, but now that has been moved to another date. His brother, Demario, told the
Ocala.com:
“My mother and I were having a conversation about (Markie's work in Afghanistan) when the car pulled up,” Demarrio Sims said.
“We were very, very close,” Demarrio said of his brother.
snip
“But that's one of the reason I'm joining, because of him,” Demarrio said. “That's what's going to motivate me to get through basic training.”
Pfc. Markie Sims
Pfc. Sims earned the following decorations and awards: the National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Ribbon and NATO Medal.
Source: Ocala.com, ABC Action News.
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remind. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here and here. They all had loved ones, families and friends. The DoD news releases are here. I Got the News Today is intended to honor, respect and remind. Click the IGTNT tags below for previous diaries.
Click the IGTNT tags to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by Monkeybiz, Noweasels, Blue Jersey Mom, Chacounne, twilight falling, joyful, SisTwo, Spam Nunn, True Blue Majority, CalNM, Wide Awake in Kentucky, Maggie Jean, Jax Dem, Kestrel 9000, TheFatLadySings, Ekaterina, and me, Sandy on Signal.
Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.