LAWTON, OK, US
U. S. Army
SPC, CO A, 2ND BN, 327TH INF REGT, 1ST BCT, FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY
06/07/2010, KONAR, AFGHANISTAN
Army Specialist Charles Scott Jirtle died on June 7, 2010 of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device. His unit was serving during Operation Enduring Freedom. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Four other soldiers were also killed in the attack which took place in the Dangam district of Kunar Province, Afghanistan. Specialist Jirtle was twenty-nine years old. He is now a Fort Campbell Remembered Eagle.
SPC Jirtle, whom friends and loved ones knew simply as “Scott,” is survived by his wife three children and his parents. At the time of his death, SPC Jirtle and his wife were expecting their fourth child, a son who would be named Charles Scott Jirtle Jr. He had noted on his Facebook page that his family was struggling with his deployment and absence and sought God’s help protecting his family.
He had already served an Iraq deployment in 2007 and 2008. Charles Jirtle joined the Army because he wanted to take care of his children. He had extended his enlistment for this deployment, knowing that he was going to a very hot spot. SPC Jirtle was an indirect fire infantryman who joined the Army in July 2007 and arrived at Fort Campbell in November 2007.
As a youngster, when the ice cream truck came around, his four older brothers would recruit him to ask his parents for ice cream money. The Jirtle brothers knew that their parents would not turn down that request of their youngest sibling. On Friday nights as their parents went bowling, the brothers turned the house into a makeshift arena for “Friday night wrestling matches.” As the youngest, Scott would have had his hands full with his older brothers.
Scott was born September 13, 1980 in Lawton. His father was an active duty Master Sergeant. He grew up in Lawton and attended MacArthur High School. He worked several places including the City of Lawton prior to enlisting in the U.S. Army. He also served in the Navy Reserves in Oklahoma City. He completed his basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia and deployed to Afghanistan three weeks ago. He also served one year tour of duty in Iraq from 2007 to 2008. He married on July 9, 2009 in Clarksville, Tennessee.