SPRINGDALE – After landing on Iraqi soil on June 30th, Springdale Fire Department officials say 25-year-old Justin D. English was still en route to his assigned destination in Mosul for a year of service, when he was killed by a roadside bomb about 250 miles north of Baghdad.
His friends and family are calling it an absolute tragedy; they say English went to Iraq as a civilian, excited to use his background in firefighting to serve as an EMT in Mosul. They say English was an amazing person who never met a stranger, or made an enemy, and that he will be deeply missed.
His sister, Angie Hunsucker says she and her little brother were very close, and says English was truly one of a kind. “I can’t put into words the kind of goodness that he had in his heart. He had a joy for life, and every day, he just lived it like it was his last.”
And until that last day, his superior at the fire station, Captain Jesse Chambliss, says English thrived on adventure, new places, and meeting new people, part of the reason he decided to leave his job at the fire station, and serve in Iraq. “He had an adventure, an excitement for life; he loves to be alive and try new things and do new things. He loved to help people.”
Hunsucker said his love for people endeared him to many. “He’s the most precious person I’ve ever met. He never has a bad word to say about anyone. It’s easy to glorify someone that’s passed on, but he really was that way!”
Chambliss agrees. “He was a good kid, he was very energetic, very outgoing, even when he was having a bad day you wouldn’t know it because he was all the time smiling. He was very smart. He cared about people.”
Hunsucker says English’s death made her realize each fatality in Iraq involves someone’s son or daughter. “We just need to remember these people and hold them up because they gave their lives to give us what we have in America. They gave their lives, the ultimate sacrifice, and we don’t need to take any of that for granted.”
English’s sister says she actually taught him her first year teaching, and had to have a parent-teacher conference about him, with their mother!
But, English went on to graduate from Waldron High School in 2001, and graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith, with an associate’s degree.
According to his friends and family, English’s body was flown back to the U.S. on Tuesday, arriving in the Dover, Delaware Airforce Base.
Funeral services are tentatively set for Saturday in Waldron. According to officials, the city of Waldron is planning to coordinate a public procession for him.
Gone But Not Forgotten 