PFC BRANDON RAMSEY
933rd Military Police Company

Army Pfc. Brandon Ramsey, Age 21, of Calumet City, Ill.
Assigned to the 933rd Military Police Company, Army National Guard, Chicago
Killed in a vehicle accident August 8, 2003 in Tallil, Iraq.
Ramsey was part of a convoy escort mission when the vehicle in which he was riding rolled over during the chase of a suspicious vehicle.
(www.militarycity.com)


Soldier from Calumet City killed in Iraq
Associated Press
(www.militarycity.com)
CALUMET CITY, Ill. — Army Pfc. Brandon Ramsey joined the Illinois National Guard for the education perks, not to fight a war.

But the 21-year-old, who died in Iraq on Friday, answered the call to duty without fear, his older brother said.

“As far as leaving, there was no way out of it,” said Vaughn Ramsey. “(Brandon) was never one to back away from a challenge.”

The Defense Department announced Wednesday that Ramsey was killed in Tallil, Iraq, when the vehicle he was in rolled over while chasing a suspicious vehicle.

“(Fighting) was something he didn’t expect he would have to do,” said Vaughn Ramsey.

Brandon Ramsey’s large extended family gathered at his home in Calumet City on Wednesday, just like they often did for his calls from Iraq.

“He told us he was safe. He never gave us details,” Vaughn Ramsey said. “He didn’t want us to worry.”

Ramsey joined the guard in July 2001 and was called up in May. He left behind a job at a Ford dealership, his brother said.

Ramsey graduated in 2000 from Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet City where he played football and basketball, said assistant principal Mike Fies.

Fies described Ramsey as “a nice young man, a hard working student.”

“This is a very tough loss,” Fies said.

Ramsey was one of 4,000 Illinois National Guardsmen supporting multiple military operations that began after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

“The Illinois guard is a close-knit organization, almost like a family, so anytime we lose one of our own, it has a very deep and profound impact,” said Brig. Gen. Randal Thomas in a news release.

Ramsey is the second Illinois guard member to die in combat-related service since the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, Thomas said.

Ramsey was part of a convoy escort mission, according to the Defense Department. He was assigned to Chicago’s 933rd Military Police Company.

With 176 people, the 933rd MP unit is one of the largest deployments from Chicago.

Family, friends bid farewell to Calumet City soldier
(www.nwitimes.com)

National Guardsman had dreams of being a rap music star.

BY CARMEN McCOLLUM
Times Staff Writer

CHICAGO - Standing at the podium looking out over dozens of people with arrangements of carnations and roses and a sprinkling of American flags nearby, Gayle Ramsey talked about her nephew.

Brandon Ramsey, 21, an Illinois Army National Guardsman from Calumet City, was killed Aug. 8 in Tallil, Iraq when the vehicle he was riding in rolled over. His funeral was Saturday at Gatling's Chapel in Chicago.

Reading from the obituary, Ramsey said her nephew was a talented young man who had a passion for art and music.

"As a youngster when all the cousins would be playing, as usual, Brandon would be off painting, drawing or writing music," she read. "He often talked seriously about being the next big rapper to hit the mic as Brandon Lei. His cousins and best friends said he would be called 75 Cent because the name 50 Cent had already been taken."

Ramsey drew laughter from the crowd but minutes later many were in tears as they bid a last farewell to the young man who had such a promising future. He joined the reserve in July 2001. Ramsey headed to Iraq in May, leaving a job at Dick James Ford. He was using the military to finance a planned college education.

Staff Sgt. Norell Liboy of the 933rd Military Police Company, Chicago, said Ramsey was among 165 or so officers in Iraq from that division.

"He always had a smile on his face," Liboy said.

Sgt. 1st Class Kevin Bonds of Chicago said Ramsey's tent was just a couple tents over from his. Bonds said he and his wife, Carretha, who were both in the military, knew Ramsey.

"We had come home for a funeral and I heard about what happened three days later," Bonds said.

"Brandon was a highly motivated individual," he said. "He had very high morale considering the conditions. And he was right, the war was far from over."

Family members and friends have said Ramsey wrote them that even though the president has declared an end to the war, it's not over.

Bonds said Ramsey played an active role in the military police unit.

"We were helping the Iraqi people get a government established," Bonds said. "We also helped get supplies into Baghdad. Brandon played a big part in that. That's what he was doing."

Brother Leonard Waters from the Calumet Heights Congregation asked mourners to encourage the family and not to cry.

"Brandon is not in any pain," Waters said. "He may be better off than many of us. Each of us should ask ourselves if we are doing everything that God expects of us."




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