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Posted on Thu, Sep. 09, 2004





Soldiers honor Special Forces soldier killed in Iraq

Associated Press


FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. - Staff Sgt. Aaron Holleyman's former commander remembered him as a "commander's choice" for his intelligence and grit during his service in Iraq.

Capt. Daniel Diamond, who led Holleyman during Holleyman's first tour in Iraq, recalled his memories Thursday during a memorial service at Fort Campbell.

Holleyman, 26, died when his vehicle hit a land mine on Aug. 30 in Iraq. He was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Fort Campbell. Holleyman was the First Brigade's second casualty of the Iraq mission.

"I like to call him a friend. He was a commander's choice because he was intelligent and hardworking. He had a plethora of qualities that I would admire for a lifetime," said Diamond, who spoke Thursday in the post's Memorial Chapel.

Holleyman, a Mississippi native, was buried on Tuesday after a funeral for him at Trinity Baptist Church in Carthage, Miss. He was buried at Monticello Baptist Church cemetery in Lawrence County.

Diamond said Holleyman was loyal to football teams in his state.

"He was a sports enthusiast and he loved Mississippi football and he loved his family," Diamond said after Thursday's memorial.

According to the memorial service booklet that told Holleyman's life story, he participated in over 100 combat missions in western Iraq. On one occasion he was wounded along with two other soldiers, but he treated his injured comrades before himself, the pamphlet said.

Holleyman was born in Rankin County in Mississippi and attended school in Clinton. He later graduated from high school in Glasgow, Mont. He enlisted in the Army in 1996.

Holleyman was survived by two daughters and a son in Fayetteville, N.C.