CHESTER, SC, USA U.S. Army SPC, HHC, 3D BATTALION, 509TH INFANTRY, 4 BCT, (25 ID), FORT RICHARDSON, AK BAGHDAD, IRAQ 12/26/2006
“I remember (Douglas) Logan as a bright, handsome fellow. Full of sunshine and mischief, eyes sparking as he grasped a new concept. Fearless, and full of daring on that third grade playground. As a student teacher at the time, I believe that he taught me more than he ever learned from me. Though I never saw him after those few months long ago, I hold his memory as that sweet, wonderful, innocent child.” These words from former student teacher, Lydia Padgett, sums up how all who knew Douglas “Logan” Tinsley felt about him.
The military took Douglas “Logan” out of Chester, a small old textile town in South Carolina.. To see things that may not have been possible without the military. He had traveled, jumped out of airplanes, lived in Alaska.
He graduated high school in 2004 and was assigned to Fort Richardson Alaska. He was planning to be married to Sarah Nelson in early 2007.
Logan kept in touch by posting messages on his MySpace and Facebook web pages. The last post came the day before he died. It included a picture of a grinning Tinsley. “If you want to capture Logan, that’s the picture,” said mother, Lori.
Tinsley was killed in a vehicle rollover in Baghdad on December 26th 2006. He was 21 years old.
Surviving are his mother, Lori F. Tinsley and companion, Rhonda Graham of Chester; his father, Douglas Vance Tinsley and his wife, Connie of Rock Hill, S.C.; brother, Pfc. Ryan Tinsley of Ft. Bragg, N.C.; one sister, Kristen Tinsley of Lancaster, S.C.; fiancee, Sarah Rose Nelson of Anchorage, Alaska; three stepbrothers, Brandon Larin and Austin Barker, both of Rock Hill, and Derrick Blair of Chester, S.C.; maternal grandmother, Zelma B. Fairfax of McConnells; paternal grandfather, Douglas H. Tinsley of Blair, S.C.; four foster brothers, Darrell Satterwhite of Rock Hill, Nicholas Satterwhite of Charlotte, N.C., Greg Estes of Savannah, Ga., and Harrison McWaters of Rock Hill. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Buddy Fairfax; his paternal grandmother, Barbara Jean Tinsley; and his godmother, Martha Ann “Mott” Cummings.