FORT CARSON, Colo.—Two Fort Carson soldiers who were wounded in a mortar attack in Baghdad Iraq have died, military officials said Tuesday.
Spc. Justin R. Blackwell, 27, of Paris, Tenn., and Pvt. Jeremy S. Bohannon, 18, of Bon Aqua, Tenn., died Sunday in Baghdad, the Department of Defense said.
Both were assigned to the 59th Military Police Company, 759th Military Police Battalion, 89th Military Police Brigade at Fort Carson.
Bohannon enlisted in the Army in November and was on his first tour of Iraq, just nine months into his military career.
Bohannon was driving a vehicle while Blackwell was acting as gunner, said Blackwell’s girlfriend, Allyson Riggen, who lives in Craig, Colo.
“He believed very much in what he was doing,” she said. “He couldn’t wait to go over there, because he thought he was helping people.”
Blackwell grew up in a military family and has a brother stationed at Fort Carson. It was his third tour in Iraq after joining the Army in 2000.
Blackwell was known as a jokester who loved country music and pro wrestling, Riggen told The Gazette of Colorado Springs. The couple had their first child, Joshua, on March 16 and planned two have two more, she said.
Blackwell had two daughters, 8 and 2, from previous marriages.
On his MySpace page, Blackwell said: “I’m a simple boy from Tennessee who likes country music and playing with my kids. I love you Abby, Mackenzie, and Josh. Daddy misses you all very much and I’ll be home with you guys before you know it.”
