Jerome J. Potter

Age:   24 Hometown: Tacoma, WA Date of Death: 5/3/2007 Incident Location: Baghdad, Iraq Branch of Military:   Army Rank: Pfc. Unit: Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Divis Unit's Base: Fort Hood, Texas

 

Growing up in Yelm, Jerome Potter liked to sneak onto Fort Lewis and secretly watch up close as the troops trained in the woods. One time, he got too close. There was an explosion, and he got his bell rung so hard his ears bled. "They brought him home and said don't ever come back unless you're going to join up," recalled his mom, Holly Burson. Six years later, he did.

"He was a spectacular kid," his mom said. "He had a lot of challenges in his life, a difficult childhood, but he overcame them. He had his whole life mapped out and he was following it to a T."

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