Soldier dies in Iraq combat
Soldier dies in Iraq combat

By Augie Frost
Published: June 26, 2007

DIBBLE — The death of a soldier from Dibble marks the fourth Oklahoman killed last week in combat in Iraq.

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Three others died last week

Pfc. Thomas Ray Leemhuis, 23, of Binger, and Sgt. Ryan M. Wood, 22, of Oklahoma City, were killed Thursday in Baghdad. Spc. Derek Calhoun, 23, of Oklahoma City, died Saturday near Baghdad.

Leemhuis and Wood were killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near the vehicle they were in, according to the Department of Defense. Both were assigned to 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Schweinfurt, Germany.

Details of Calhoun's death have not been released by the Department of Defense.

Army Pfc. Jerimiah Veitch, 21, was killed Thursday when the vehicle he was riding in was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade just outside of Baghdad, according to a U.S. Department of Defense news release.

Veitch had only been in Iraq for two months after a two-week visit with family and friends in his hometown of Dibble, his sister Amanda Testerman said Monday. He had served six months in Iraq before that. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division out of Fort Carson, Colo.

Wherever it is that Christians go when they die, Veitch "is headed that way,” Testerman said.

"If you needed anything, he was there,” she said.

Friends and family gathered Sunday night for a candlelight vigil in honor of Veitch at Dibble High School, where he graduated.

"He did great in school,” Testerman said. "He did the school part so he could play football. He always gave 100 percent.”

While not a troublemaker, Veitch did like to live on the edge, which led to his joining the Army. He was a bit rowdy, but "he always said ‘yes ma'am' and ‘sir,'” his sister said.

On his www.MySpace.com page, Veitch had this quote: "If ur not living on the edge, Ur just taking up space.”

Veitch manned a .50-caliber machine gun on his patrol vehicle. The night he was killed, he had the option to stay behind in the barracks because he had been wounded the week before, his stepfather Tony Sanchez said. He went out anyway, because he wasn't going to leave his comrades without cover.

As his fellow soldiers scoured an enemy stronghold on foot, a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the vehicle from behind, Sanchez said.

At one point, Veitch was the driver of a Humvee. He wouldn't accept his battle patch until he was moved to gunner, where the action was, Sanchez said.

"He didn't go there (Iraq) to not fight,” he said.

A better life in Oklahoma

Veitch moved to Dibble before high school, with his mother Valorie Sanchez and Tony Sanchez, from San Jose, Calif., to have a better life.

It was the best thing that could have happened to him, Testerman said.

She called her brother a "countrified city boy” who planned on coming back to Oklahoma. He was also in the process of legally changing his last name to Sanchez, because he considered Tony Sanchez to be his real father.

To Tony Sanchez, Veitch was a son and a friend — not a stepson.

They worked together and when Veitch finished his service in the military, he planned on taking a job with the roofing company Tony worked for.

"He is more of a son than anyone could ask for,” Tony Sanchez said. "He was my partner. He was the heart of our family.”

Tony Sanchez went to all Veitch's football games and weightlifting competitions, he said. Veitch one year took second place in a state weightlifting competition, lifting more than 1,000 pounds in three lifts in the 132-pound weight class. More than 400 pounds of the total he lifted with a single deadlift.

Monday morning, Testerman met with family members to discuss when and where they will bury Veitch. The loss hadn't set in just yet, she said.

"Right now, it's shocking and numbing,” she said.

"It makes your nerves raw.”

When the time does come to bury Veitch, the family would like all who knew him to line the streets of their small town with a small American flag in hand as the funeral procession passes, Testerman said.

By Monday afternoon, the numerous phone calls from Veitch's comrades in Iraq, friends and from their community — which Tony Sanchez said helped raise Veitch — was almost overwhelming, Valorie Sanchez said.

Funeral arrangements for Veitch have not been set, but likely will be on Monday, Tony Sanchez said.