Raymond White

[3quartertime]

Elwood soldier killed during ambush in Baghdad

The Associated Press

November 15, 2004 10:29 AM

ELWOOD, IND. -- The commanding officers of a 22-year-old soldier killed in Iraq told his family that he saved the lives of several of his comrades as they were ambushed.

Spc. Raymond L. White's battalion commander, platoon sergeant, and company commander all called on Sunday from Iraq to talk about his death while on patrol Friday in Baghdad, said Henry White, the soldier's father.

White, 22, of Elwood and his unit were on patrol in three military vehicles when they were ambushed by about 30 insurgents, his father said he was told.

"Raymond was the only one firing, so all the fire was directed at Raymond," White told The Herald-Bulletin of Anderson. "Ray was killed instantly but he was able to fight to the very end. The battalion commander said he saved all those soldiers' lives."

White said five other soldiers were injured with minor wounds.

A 2001 Frankton High School graduate, White was deployed to Iraq in January.

After graduating from high school, White attended the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, N.M., for 18 months before returning to Elwood, about 25 miles north of Indianapolis.

"He quit, came home and enlisted," Henry White said. "He said 'Dad, I'm sorry but I have a higher calling.'"

Maj. Elizabeth Robbins, an Army spokeswoman, said White joined the Army in April 2003. He was assigned to the Army's 1st Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas.

"He was very, very patriotic," said his mother, Sharon White. "I told him, keep your head down, come home, don't be a hero."

White was the 31st person from Indiana to have died after being sent to the Mideast since the buildup for the invasion of Iraq began in early 2003.

I hate this news,,,but I love the fact that the brave protect me and mine... This young mans father is a prior service Green Beret. He called a local talk show today and told his sons story.

No one is born a hero. Hero's are defined by their actions,,,and most never live to be told how great they are...

Thanks to the soldiers that walk the wall...