The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
by Jeff Abell, The Hawk Eye (Used with permission)
Flags again will be flying at half-staff over two western Illinois communities.
Just 20 months ago, Blandinsville and La Harpe, separated by only six miles, learned that one of their own died fighting in Iraq.
Now, another hometown boy is dead, reopening new wounds for a community that has not yet fully recovered.
"It's a very sad and tragic day for us," said Mary Nortrup of Blandinsville. "It's a terrible waste of life."
Cpl. Joshua Palmer, Blandinsville, died Monday when his bulldozer fell into the Euphrates River near Fallujah, said Gunnery Sgt. James Howard of Marine Reserves Company C of the 6th Engineer Support Battalion Company in Peoria. The 24-year-old was building a fighting position on he Fallujah Peninsula when the ground gave way, according to a statement from the military. A New York based Marine also died in the accident, but has not been identified.
At Clover Tire in La Harpe, where Palmer formerly worked, management and staff fondly remember him as a "good and honest kid".
"He gave 100 percent to everything he did," said Steve Reed, owner. "He was just your typical good country boy."
Palmer graduated in 1999 from La Harpe High School.
"He was out of the service for awhile but was asked if he would re-enlist. He thought about it, then told them he would go back," said friend and co-worker Shane Lewis, of Blandinsville.
He had been assigned to a unit in Battle Creek, Mich, and joined the Peoria engineering company shortly before it left in August for its second tour of Iraq.
His parents declined to comment. Palmer's death is the second involving a La Harpe High School graduate in Iraq. Evan James, 20, and another Marine reservist drowned March 24, 2003, while swimming across a canal to set up armed cover for a water purification team in the early days of the war.
James was a sophomore at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville majoring in kinesiology, the study of muscles and their movements. He wanted to become a personal trainer and worked part-time at a fitness club.
His mother, Donna James, sympathizes with the Palmer's loss. She said nothing can replace the loss of her son.
"For me, Josh's death is like having to live Evan's death all over again," James said. "At first, it makes you angry. You just have to take this one day at a time. It does get better over time".
La Harpe Mayor Kenneth Brown said both communities will pull together to cope with their loss. But he worries about the fate of other local service personnel in Iraq.
"To lose two boys in such a short period of time is heart breaking," Brown said. "We will do what is necessary for the family and hope we don't have to go through this again."
Palmer's death comes as the U.S. led offensive in Fallujah unfolds. As of Tuesday night, the fighting had killed 10 U.S. troops and two members of the Iraqi security force, the U.S. military announced. The toll already equaled the 10 American military deaths when Marines besieged the city for three weeks in April.
A brief U.S. military statement said there could be delays in reporting combat casualties in Fallujah "in order to prevent the anti-Iraqi forces and other terrorist elements from gaining useful battlefield intelligence."