Location: 3356
Date: 5/3/2007
Rank: Staff Sergeant
Branch: U.S. Army
Operation: Operation Iraqi Freedom
I had a son who loved life. He was an average kid who went to school and worked hard to buy his first car. School wasn’t easy for him but he graduated with pretty good grades and got the Maverick Award for most improved student. He played baseball, hockey and loved to snowboard. My son and I loved to hike and go camping whenever we got a chance. He loved adventure, was ready to jump out of planes, climb mountains, and other extreme ideas. He graduated in 2000 and joined the Army. Coby served 5 years in the Army, most of the time with the 5/20th Battalion out of Fort Lewis, WA. His unit was the first to maneuver the Stryker over in Iraq, which has replaced the ordinary tank. My son’s job was with computers, directing drivers where to go. Their unit spent 15 months over there, missing holidays and special occasions and losing a soldier on April 28th, 2008, Jacob Herring. Coby came home and got out of the Army. He didn’t feel comfortable with people. He was used to such extreme conditions. Our simple problems we have every day just didn’t seem important to him. He’d tell me that what we worry about just isn’t that important when you look at the fact they were fighting for their lives every day over there in Iraq. But he continued on with life, working on schooling. He had one more semester to finish before graduating from college. To help pay for schooling he joined the Army Reserves, a unit that would never go overseas, he promised. But in March of 2006 Coby went to the Bravo Company Task Force 321 Engineers out of Boise. They shipped out to Iraq in July 2006. His job was to find and disarm IED in Ar Ramadi. On May 3rd, 2007 he was killed by insurgents setting off an IED. Since his death they have named a war game after him in CA, and when they run this drill they take the time to tell Coby’s story. On April 9th, 2011 they dedicated a building which Coby’s name is also on. So here is one soldier that gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country, just an ordinary young man doing his job. Thank you for listening to my story of just one of our country’s heroes. Remember we all have a lot to give in life.