NEWPORT, NH, USA U.S. Army SPC, COMPANY C, 2D BATTALION, 505TH INFANTRY, 3 BCT, (25 ID), FORT BRAGG, NC SAMARRA, IRAQ 03/05/2007
Specialist Justin Allan Rollins, age 22, never had the chance to do what he most wanted to do in April 2007: propose to his girlfriend, Brittney J. Murray, of Lempster, New Hampshire. He was due to come home for R&R Leave in April and redeploy back to Fort Bragg, North Carolina in August. But fate had other plans. On March 5, 2007, while serving as a gunner in a Humvee in Samarra, Iraq, Justin was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED). The explosion also killed five other Soldiers.
Justin graduated from Newport High School with the Class of 2003. In 2004 he entered the U. S. Army and became a member of the 82nd Airborne Division. While in the Army he graduated from Recruiter’s School and his unit responded to Hurricane Katrina.
Specialist Rollins joined the Army because of the attacks conducted on September 11th. He said that he went to Iraq so that Iraqi children could have the same opportunities as children in the United States. In addition to earning the Parachutist’s Badge, he also earned Irish Jump Wings. He was selected on two separate occasions to escort President George W. Bush, once at Ft. Bragg.
Members of his family include his parents, Mitchel A. “Skip” and Rhonda L. Rollins of Newport, NH, his brother, Jonathan Mitchel Rollins of Newbury, NH, paternal grandparents, Carolyn Rollins and the late Robert Rollins of Newport, and the late Joan W. Noel formerly of Windsor, VT, and Rene H. Noel and his wife, Ramona, of Windsor, VT, his greatgrandmother, Menta Shaw of Newport, and several cousins, uncles and aunts, and his beloved pit-bull, Kayla Buddies.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, Purple Heart Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, Army Good Conduct Medal, Army Overseas Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, and the Army Service Ribbon. His remains were interred at Arlington Nation Cemetery in Arlington, VA, on Monday, March 19, 2007.
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