SSG BOBBY C. FRANKLIN
210th Miltary Police Company
Army
Staff Sgt. Bobby C. Franklin, Age 38, of Mineral Bluff, Georgia.
Assigned to the 210th Military Police Company, Army National Guard,
Murphy N.C
Killed on August 20, 2003 by an improvised explosive device in Baghdad,
Iraq.
(www.militarycity.com)
N.C. Guard Soldier Killed in Iraq
By Capt. Robert Carver, NCNG Public Affairs Officer
Tarheel Guardsman
(www.ncnga.org)
BLUE RIDGE, GA –
It rained the day of Bobby Franklin’s funeral.
Franklin’s wife,
Brenda, said her husband of nearly 21 years had told her he
wanted to stand in the rain when he returned from duty in the desert of
Southwest Asia.
Franklin was
killed Aug. 20 in Baghdad, Iraq, when the vehicle he was riding in
was hit by an improvised explosive device. Two other soldiers with
him at the time were wounded, one seriously enough to be sent home to
recover.
“The North
Carolina National Guard is grieving,” said Major General William
E. Ingram, Jr., adjutant general of the North Carolina National Guard.
“Staff Sergeant Franklin was a truly outstanding soldier who
answered the call to duty like so many others have. His loss is a
terrible tragedy. The mission to which he dedicated his life is
being
carried out by his fellow soldiers who continue to serve on duty in
Iraq.”
Staff Sergeant
Bobby C. Franklin, 38, of Mineral Bluff, GA, a sleepy little town in the northernmost
reaches of the state, served with Detachment 2 of the 210th Military Police Company
in Murphy, NC. The unit had been called to active duty March 15th of this year to
support Operation Iraqi Freedom. An employee of the Georgia Department
of Corrections
at its facility in Blairesville, Franklin was a veteran Guardsman with
more than
18 years of service.
At the time
of his death, Franklin was behind the wheel of his HUMVEE. Normally a passenger, he
had taken over for another soldier for this trip. Fellow soldiers say
he was the kind of
non-commissioned officer who did all he could to look out for his
buddies. He had even turned
down an opportunity to come home for a short time. He chose to stay
with his
soldiers, because he knew they needed him.
Franklin
leaves behind two children, 15-yearold Jacob
Christopher and 11-year-old Holly Nicole. His grave lies
only a few hundred feet from the baseball diamond
where he and Jacob spent many hours on the
field.
After an
emotional service at a funeral chapel in Blue Ridge,
GA, the lengthy funeral procession wound through
streets lined with well-wishers waving American
flags and holding signs bearing messages of
support. Some stood at attention with their hands over
their hearts. Still others saluted as the procession
made the short drive to the cemetery.
At the grave
site, a tearful Brenda Franklin received the
Purple Heart and the Bronze Star earned by her
husband. A firing party rendered a 21-gun salute
for a soldier who had given the last full measure of
devotion.
And then it
rained.
N.C. Guard
soldier killed was prison worker at home
Associated Press
(www.militarycity.com)
Family members of a
North Carolina National Guard soldier who died in Iraq said they knew
something was wrong even before the military came to their door to give
them the bad news.
Staff Sgt. Bobby
Franklin, 38, a member of the 210th Military Police Company based in
Murphy, was killed Aug. 20 when an improvised explosive device
detonated near his vehicle, according to the military.
Franklin’s death
marks the first time in more than three decades that the North Carolina
National Guard has lost a soldier to hostile fire, guard officials
said.
Two other soldiers
with Franklin were injured. By the night of Aug. 20, Franklin’s family
knew something was wrong.
“The other two guys
that were always with him had already called in and checked with their
wives,” said Tim Nicholson, Franklin’s brother-in-law. Franklin’s wife,
Brenda, didn’t receive a call.
By the morning of
the 21st, soldiers had arrived in Mineral Bluff, Ga., the town just
across the border where the Franklins lived to tell Brenda what
happened.
When not in the
guard, Franklin worked at the Carlton Colwell Probation and Detention
Center in Blairsville, Ga. He supervised inmates working on
construction projects in the community.
When the reservist
was called up, his co-workers made sure he periodically received care
packages filled with comforts from home.
Family members
tried to talk the longtime reservist into calling it quits last year as
the nation’s war of words with Iraq increased.
“He was within a
year of retirement,” Nicholson said. “That’s why he went back this
time.”
More than 1,300
North Carolina Guardsmen are on active duty, many overseas in Iraq and
Afghanistan. Soldiers in his unit are trying to make sense of what
happened to Franklin, a father of two children.
“Their morale is
low,” said Kim Johnson, the family coordinator for the 210th. “They
feel guilty they’re not home to give Bobby the burial he deserves. It’s
hard for them to focus on their mission.”