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| Amanda Pinson 1984 - 2006 |
Army Sergeant Amanda Pinson worked as a cryptologist in Iraq. She enlisted in the Army after graduating in 2002 from Hancock Place High School, Mississippi, where she won several scholarships. As a child she excelled in academics and athletics. She planned to attend college after her military service and become an FBI or CIA agent.
She was assigned to the 101st Military Intelligence Detachment, 501st Special Troops Battalion, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Amanda was part of a highly skilled group who fought their battles not only on the sands of the desert, but also in the electronic ether. Amanda died March 16 at age 21 when Iraqi insurgents fired a mortar shell into her compound in Tikrit, north of Baghdad. She was the 2,315th soldier to be killed in Iraq.
Cryptologists not only work from garrison, but in time of war they must also perform on the front lines. They often work in the background, and Amanda's tragic story reminds us to respect all those who risk their life, doing things we don't see or don't know of. Amanda is the first female soldier to be honored by the National Security Agency. Amanda's name is inscribed on the NSA Memorial Wall.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Lest we forget.
For the Fallen, Laurence Binyon 1914
More at our Amanda Pinson commemorative page.
2 comments:
Dirk, I've added this, to post later today, to my category about Amanda.
http://blog.simmins.org/index.php/category/military/amanda-pinson/
Chuck Simmins
http://blog.simmins.org
Rest in the most peaceful of peaces.
May God bless you, and the rest of our fallen soldiers...
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