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
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(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.”


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