Soldier dies of second war wound in Iraq

07:23 AM PDT on Thursday, April 29, 2004

From KING5.com Staff and Wire Reports

KING Jake Herring

SEATTLE – A Stryker brigade soldier who could have come home after being wounded in Iraq has died after being hit in a second attack, friends and close associates said.

Army Spc. Jake Herring, 21, of Kirkland, Wash. died of wounds from a grenade attack west of Mosul, Iraq.

The U.S. Central Command confirmed that a soldier died Wednesday following a rocket-propelled grenade attack outside Mosul the previous night but did not give his name.

Herring’s mother, Susan Sutter, said her son had just been promoted to the rank of sergeant. She would not comment further.

Based at Fort Lewis, south of Tacoma, Herring and three other soldiers were wounded Tuesday night. All were rushed to the 67th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad. The others survived.

An e-mail on the death was issued Wednesday afternoon by Mark Robertson, principal at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, where Herring was center and co-captain of the football team in 2000.

Relatively small at 180 pounds, Herring successfully stood his ground against bigger opposing linemen, football coach Tim Tramp said.

“He was such a tenacious competitor, very strong, the small dog chasing the big dog,” Tramp said. “He was very mature, shy and quiet but always wanting to do what was best for the team.”

Last month Herring received the Purple Heart for injuries from a roadside bomb that ripped into the Humvee in which he was riding in December. Rather than come home, he decided to stay with his unit through the end of his scheduled tour of duty in May.

"I didn't realize that he had chosen to stay in Iraq and stay with his military family and choosing to fight rather than getting a free ride home. And that just really describes his character," Tramp said.

According to his friends, that's what Herring was all about.

"I just know that he loves his friends, his family and his country at the same time," said Dan Gillison, who enlisted with Herring out of high school.

Herring and two teammates enlisted together four days before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Quarterback and co-captain Gillison parachuted into northern Iraq with the 101st Airborne Division last year. After a year and four months, Jonathan Barsness decided he was a conscientious objector and received an honorable discharge.

Herring and Barsness “stayed dear friends through it all. They seemed to understand each other’s differences,” said Barsness’ father, Roy Barsness. “We have very fond memories of Jake. He was a very gracious, handsome, kind young man.”

His friends at home described Herring as a humble person who finished what he started. They had been eagerly planning a welcome-home party, family friend Kim Henwood said.

“His mom saved a scrapbook for him, of everything he did in the Army,” she said.

Henwood said the last entry is an e-mail telling his mother he had passed his sergeant’s exam.

Jake Herring is survived by his parents and two younger brothers.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.