Former UGA cheerleader killed in Iraq

[SilverBritches]

ATHENS — A former University of Georgia cheerleading captain who was known for "carrying bullets in one pocket and Beanie Babies in the other" as a soldier has been killed in Iraq, his father said Monday.

Second Lt. Noah Harris, 23, of the 3rd Infantry Division, was killed Friday in Baquba, Iraq after a roadside bomb detonated near his armored Humvee, said his father, Rick Harris of Ellijay, Ga. Another soldier, a gunner, was killed and the driver of the vehicle suffered burns on 80 percent of his body, Rick Harris said.
EMAIL THIS
PRINT THIS
MOST POPULAR


A Pentagon spokesman said Monday that he could not confirm Noah Harris' death until 24 hours after the family had been notified.

Noah Harris joined the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, telling his father that people "must serve some higher purpose than yourself in life."

Rick Harris said Noah Harris, a high school state champion wrestler and football team captain, enjoyed giving stuffed animals and soccer balls to Iraqi children.

"He said, 'Democracy is taking hold over here. People love Americans, they love what we're doing,"' Rick Harris said.

Noah Harris' mother, Lucy Harris, teaches English at Gilmer County School, and was the school system's 2003-2004 Teacher of the Year.

Services for family members will be held Friday at Fort Benning, Ga. A memorial service for the 2003 UGA graduate will be held Saturday -- on what would have been his 24th birthday -- at noon at First United Methodist Church in Ellijay.

Neva Helms, a volunteer working Monday in the church office, said a women's group at the church had been sending e-mails and packages to Noah Harris and members of his unit in Iraq.

When he was home on leave around Mother's Day, the soldier visited the church and spoke to the women's group.

"He was such a pleasant gentleman," Helms said. "His parents had to be the proudest people in the world."

Helms said Noah Harris, who had no siblings, "was what every parent would want their child to be -- clean-cut, handsome, very giving. He was just the type person we need to keep alive to keep this country going.

"It's such a loss, such a wasted loss."

[Neo]

Such a shame. That's why we have to stay the course, so his death will not be in vain. :cool:

[SilverBritches]

God bless Noah and all of the men and women who are currently serving and protecting our country from terror. Very sad. Prayers go out to Noah's family and all of those who have lost loved ones.

[Djshockley3]

Man that sucks.

[ThomasBrown_4heisman]

That is bad I hate to hear of these things:-(

[WayzUp]

Such a shame. That's why we have to stay the course, so his death will not be in vain. :cool:
I'd feel a whole lot better about the job we're doing over there if our stategy wasn't basically to wait for them to hit us in whichever manner they can devise and we just go destroy an entire section of town that we believe they came from. Those are the stories I've been told by a couple guys who come back for 10 day stints before heading back over for 6 more months.

I fully realize that war isn't supposed to be pretty and neat and all the while following a perfect script but the plan (complete lack thereof?) we seem to be executing is creating more Noah's than it is leading us down the road of getting the rest of our men & women the hell out of there.

[Cianne]

I'd feel a whole lot better about the job we're doing over there if our stategy wasn't basically to wait for them to hit us in whichever manner they can devise and we just go destroy an entire section of town that we believe they came from.

Urban warfare is tricky like that. Since the US holds the moral high ground, they can't just walk in and preemptively take out a town due to civilian casualties. Meanwhile, the insurgents don't care about civilian casualties and will attack in whatever means they deem necessary. I'm not sure on what the ratio of US casualties:insurgent casualties is but I'm sure it's pretty good although no US casualties would obviously be optimal.

It's unfortunate that the Iraq infrastructure and overall geography is so terrible that they can't lockdown the borders any better than they are to keep fresh insurgents and supplies out of the country.

[BeeDee]

I'd feel a whole lot better about the job we're doing over there if our stategy wasn't basically to wait for them to hit us in whichever manner they can devise and we just go destroy an entire section of town that we believe they came from. Those are the stories I've been told by a couple guys who come back for 10 day stints before heading back over for 6 more months.

I fully realize that war isn't supposed to be pretty and neat and all the while following a perfect script but the plan (complete lack thereof?) we seem to be executing is creating more Noah's than it is leading us down the road of getting the rest of our men & women the hell out of there.

Wayz: I understand that you don't like the way that we ARE doing things over there. What do you suggest as an alternative?

[WayzUp]

Wayz: I understand that you don't like the way that we ARE doing things over there. What do you suggest as an alternative?
The first thing I'd do is get enough people over there to do the job right. We never have and that's the root of the problems we're seeing.

The second thing I'd do is move the training area for the Iraqi Security Forces (or whatever they're called) to somewhere outside of Iraq. Training them a little at a time only to have them executed a busload at a time out in the desert isn't going to bring us any closer to the end of this occupation than we are right now. Train them completely, THEN bring them back WHEN THEY'RE READY. The sooner Iraq can stand up and fight for itself the better.....it is their country, after all.

I don't pretend to be a military genius (i'm probably as far from one as you can get), but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything we're doing over there. I've heard no quantifiable goal and the death rate for American and other UN soldiers in Iraq has actually increased over the past few months. I throw out a couple suggestions here but one I will never throw out is staying the course when all that seems to do is make them think they can keep killing our men & women with impunity. Maybe I can't see the forest for the trees but I don't see what staying that course is going to prove or solve. We supposed to bash our heads against that same brick wall when my 4 year old becomes old enough to enlist? Where are we trying to get?

[AuburnandGamecockGirl]

My prayers and thoughts are with Noah Harris' family and to all of our troops who are over there as well.

[WayzUp]

Here's an encouraging story...i'll believe it when i see it but encouraging nontheless:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/07/27/iraq.main/index.html

I would also like to echo AuburnandGamecockGirl's sentiments to Noah Harris's family. I simply cannot imagine....

[BeeDee]

The first thing I'd do is get enough people over there to do the job right. We never have and that's the root of the problems we're seeing.

The second thing I'd do is move the training area for the Iraqi Security Forces (or whatever they're called) to somewhere outside of Iraq. Training them a little at a time only to have them executed a busload at a time out in the desert isn't going to bring us any closer to the end of this occupation than we are right now. Train them completely, THEN bring them back WHEN THEY'RE READY. The sooner Iraq can stand up and fight for itself the better.....it is their country, after all.

I don't pretend to be a military genius (i'm probably as far from one as you can get), but there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything we're doing over there. I've heard no quantifiable goal and the death rate for American and other UN soldiers in Iraq has actually increased over the past few months. I throw out a couple suggestions here but one I will never throw out is staying the course when all that seems to do is make them think they can keep killing our men & women with impunity. Maybe I can't see the forest for the trees but I don't see what staying that course is going to prove or solve. We supposed to bash our heads against that same brick wall when my 4 year old becomes old enough to enlist? Where are we trying to get?

Here's a quote from President Bush, from a speech that he gave at Ft. Bragg on June 28, 2005:


A little over a year ago, I spoke to the nation and described our coalition's goals in Iraq. I said that America's mission in Iraq is to defeat an enemy and give strength to a friend -- a free, representative government that is an ally in the war on terror, and a beacon of hope in a part of the world that is desperate for reform. I outlined the steps we would take to achieve this goal: We would hand authority over to a sovereign Iraqi government. We would help Iraqis hold free elections by January 2005. We would continue helping Iraqis rebuild their nation's infrastructure and economy. We would encourage more international support for Iraq's democratic transition, and we would enable Iraqis to take increasing responsibility for their own security and stability.


To me, that's an established goal. The goal from the beginning was to effect regime change in Iraq and then help to establish a freely elected and democratic government - and not leave until that government was able to promote stability and security in Iraq on its own. That goal has been stated and restated time and again - and I'm not sure why so many folks keep saying that there's no goal or no exit strategy. It's right there. We'll leave when the government in Iraq is able to defend itself from foes both domestic and foreign and is able to provide a free, peaceful and secure environment for its citizens - or when the Iraqi government (which is, at present, admittedly under very strong U.S. influence) asks us to leave.

As for staying the course and what it's going to prove; it'll prove a LOT. It'll prove that when we say that we're there till the task is done, that we mean it. When we say that we won't put up with tyrants like Saddam wreaking havoc in the Middle East or elsewhere, that we mean it. When we say that we're not at war against Muslims, but against terrorists, that we mean it. It seems like bailing out now, leaving Iraq in turmoil and our stated goal unmet would at best foster further ill-will with the Muslim extremists - but it could do worse, by giving the terrorists the sense that they can bully us and chip away at us a bit at a time and beat us. I'm not talking about a pissing contest here - I'm talking about a moral principle. We made a promise to bring stability to Iraq and we're morally bound to deliver on it.