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| John Bailey's Memorial plaque |
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| Members of the 1/140th at John's memorial |
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SFC John Bailey was my section Sgt. and then my platoon Sgt. when I was in A Co 640th DASB. He was deloyed with the
1/140th AVN BN as the Charlie company platoon Sgt. He was good at his job, well liked and respected. He and the rest
of my buddies from my old unit did a great job of keeping our aircraft flying. John was a great guy, always smiling.
I can still see him clearly on our last night at Fort Sill before we came home to our families we shared a drink and
a cigar with another friend Justin from the 640th. It was a great time. John was a California Highway Patrolman
and gave his life in the line of duty. People talked of the irony that John served a year in Iraq only to come back and be
killed by a drunk driver but the fact is John was out there for years putting his life on the line everyday for
us on the highway. He is sorely missed.
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CW5 Arthur Laguna, I met Mr. Laguna just before the deployment when he was assigned to Bravo Company. I
had heard about him and his Brothers, Dan and Milo often from others in the unit who knew them. I have wanted to be
a pilot since I was a child. Unfortunately I could not do it in the military due to a color vision problem. I was in awe when
I talked to Mr. Laguna he too wanted to fly since he was a child and I was impressed that he not only learned to fly
but owned his own airplane. He loved to talk about flying and his airplane and when he told me he taught his kids to fly I
asked him to adopt me. He was a great guy and although I only got to fly with him a couple of times I am honored to have had
the oppurtunity to serve with him. He and his family have given a lot for this country. Over the skies of Iraq doing
what he loved, he paid the ultimate price for our freedoms. He was a true patriot and will be greatly missed.
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SSG Javier Zamora served with Bravo Company as a door gunner during the deployment. He took to the job fast
and liked to fly. He was a great help both on the missions and after, cleaning weapons and helping to prep the aircraft for
the next days mission. Unfortunately I didn't get to know him well as he and our other gunners had other jobs within
the unit and only got to fly with us a couple of times a week. I am glad for the chance to have served with him and it
is with great regret that we add him to our fallen heroes list. We wish his family well. Fortunately one of his daughters
suffered only minor injuries in the auto accident that claimed his life and so we will miss, however we will not forget, another
soldier from the 1/140th.
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