Post by Blaque on Jan 29, 2007 11:50:05 GMT -5
Richmond Soldier with Ties to Hampton Roads Dies in Iraq
"He never left without saying, 'Daddy, I love you.'"
Earnest R. Hardy, Senior is holding onto many memories of a son he called an outstanding man.
On a 6-month deployment to Iraq with the Army National Guard, 38-year old Daryl Booker always took the time to call. They spoke last month.
"When he called me, he told me then that he had a couple of close calls. He said one of them was like a couple of minutes from missing, being hit by a rocket," Hardy said.
Last week, the Pastor of the Tree of Life Church in Surry had a premonition he couldn't shake.
"The same thing that had happened to me a week ago, happened to me yesterday morning. I was sitting at the table. I had the same impulsive jolt to hit me, and I said, that Daryl had gotten killed in Iraq," Hardy said.
A Blackhawk helicopter went down in Iraq over the weekend, northeast of Baghdad.
Sources say it was shot down, and The Associated Press reports an al-Qaida-linked group of Sunni insurgents is claiming responsibility. Monday, the Army paid a visit to Hardy, who deals with the loss of a son without the support of his wife, who died last February.
"In a year's time, it's been one constant tragedy after another," Hardy said.
An air traffic controller, a member of a peacekeeping force, Booker's family calls him a hero, who had devoted his life to the military. On returning home from deployment in April, he was planning to make a change.
"He was hoping this would be the last one that he would make and be home with his family," Hardy said.
Booker lived in Richmond with his wife. He had five children.