NAPLES, TX, USA U.S. Army SSG, CO A, 327TH SIGNAL BN, 35TH SIGNAL BRIGADE (MNC-I), FORT BRAGG, NC AL ASAD, IRAQ 05/10/2005
Army Staff Sergeant Samuel T. Castle of Naples, Texas was serving his 2nd tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army, and was a member of Love Chapel Baptist church. He graduated from high school in 1996, excelled in baseball & football. He went to Tyler Junior College before joining the military and was going to make a career out of it.
Della Castle Payne said she last heard from her son, Samuel T. Castle, on Mother’s Day by phone and e-mail. “He was pretty upbeat,” she said. “He said, ‘Mama don’t worry about me. I’m coming home. I’m coming home.’ But we never thought he’d be coming home this way.” Castle, 26, of Naples, Texas, died May 11, 2005, when an explosive detonated near his convoy in Asad. He was based at Fort Bragg. Castle, who graduated from high school in 1996, excelled in baseball and football. He went to Tyler Junior College before joining the military. “He really was going to make a career out of it,” his mother said. “He was a real nice young man. He loved sports: basketball, baseball and football,” said his paternal grandfather, John Raymond Castle. Both Samuel Castle and his wife, Nicole, a fellow soldier, were sent to Iraq at the end of November, leaving their 1-year-old son, also named Samuel, with her parents. The soldier also is survived by a 6-year-old daughter, Mia.