As America begins the withdrawal from Iraq, I thought it appropriate to remember the first soldier killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery:
Captain Russell B. Rippetoe, 27, was assigned to A Company, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Georgia, and died April 3, 2003, from wounds sustained at a checkpoint suicide bombing near the Hadithah Dam northwest of Baghdad, Iraq.
Russell Rippetoe served with distinction in Operation Iraqi Freedom, earning both the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. On the back of his dog tag were engraved these words, from the book of Joshua, “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage. Be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee.” When Russ’ father, Joe, collected his personal effects they included his dog tags, a scorched religious symbol, and two Bibles. “Rusty knew the Lord,” Joe said. “I told him, get to know the Lord, so if you get hurt, you’ll be on a first-name basis. . . . We celebrate Rusty’s new assignment. Now he’s a soldier in the Lord’s army.”
