Published: February 16, 2009 11:33 pm         

Community remembers soldier killed in Afghanistan

Marshall, Ill. — The governor of Illinois, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner and the top ranking officer in the Illinois Army National Guard all turned out Monday to honor a fallen soldier from Marshall.

Dozens of friends and family also turned out to pay their respects to Staff Sgt. Jason Burkholder, who was killed Feb. 8 while serving in Afghanistan.

Burkholder, 27, and 1st Lt. Jared Southworth, 26, of Oakland, Ill., were killed by an improvised explosive device in southern Afghanistan, military officials said. A member of the Afghan National Civil Order Police and a civilian also were killed, according to military officials in Springfield. The incident still is under investigation, according to a spokesman for the Illinois National Guard.

Burkholder, a native of Ohio who lived in Champaign before moving to Marshall, loved serving his country and being a soldier, said his widow, Amanda Burkholder of Marshall. “He wouldn’t have chosen any other way,” she said.

The couple had been married less than three months when Burkholder was killed.

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn attended Burkholder’s funeral service Monday evening in Truth Tabernacle on National Road in Marshall.

Many people are called “heroes,” the governor said. “The genuine heroes are men like Jason. … Jason gave his life for our country and our democracy,” Quinn said.

Burkholder was a soldier’s soldier who didn’t shy away from danger, his friends and family said Monday. In fact, the Lima, Ohio native enjoyed danger and volunteered for the deployment to Afghanistan that would be his last, his widow said. In all, Burkholder served three combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and two non-combat missions, according to friends who served with him.

In addition to being a dedicated soldier who served in the Marine Corps from 2000 until 2004, Burkholder was a loyal friend with an infectious smile and an enthusiastic personality, his friends said.

“He always had your back in any situation,” said Sgt. Derek Hahn of Urbana, who served with Burkholder in Baghdad. “You knew he was there for you.”

Burkholder was the sort of friend who would give you the shirt off his back, and “literally did” at least once, added Spc. Dylan Devitte, who also served with Burkholder in Iraq. “He enjoyed life as much as anybody possibly could,” Devitte said. “Nothing will be the same without him.”

Burkholder and Southworth were the fourth and fifth members of the Illinois National Guard to be killed since September in Afghanistan, said Maj. Brad Leighton of the guard’s Joint Forces Headquarters in Springfield. In all, 21 members of the Illinois National Guard have died in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan since current operations began, he said.

“The work they are doing [in Afghanistan] is very dangerous but very important,” Leighton said. The Guardsmen are training members of the Afghan police and military, he said. U.S. troops in Afghanistan are facing insurgents who are the same people who either perpetrated 9-11 or shielded those who did, Leighton said.

“We’re going to miss him from our National Guard family,” said Maj. Gen. William L. Enyart, who also attended Monday evening’s funeral service. Enyart is the top ranking officer in the Illinois National Guard. Congressional Medal of Honor winner and Vietnam War hero Sammy L. Davis also attended the service, military officials said.

While serving together in Iraq, Hahn and others came to know Burkholder as a person who could always make any situation seem better or brighter. “You could be mad at the world and in two minutes he’d have you laughing and having a good time,” Hahn said.

“He felt he was invincible,” Amanda Burkholder said of her fallen husband. “He was a soldier. … That was his job and he was good at it.”

Photographs and other information about Burkholder are available on the Internet at www.jason-burkholder.com.

Arthur Foulkes can be reached at (812) 231-4232 or arthur.foulkes@tribstar.com.