Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:
Marine LCPL Jason N. Barfield, Age 22 of Ashford, AL.
KIA Oct. 24, 2011 Operation Enduring Freedom
Jason is one that once you met him you seemed to never forget. His smile could light up a room. He loved people, no matter who they were, where they came from, how much money they had, those things didn’t matter. He always had a way of finding good in everyone even if he had to dig a little deeper. In high school, he was a member of our marching band and concert band. Jason played the Alto, Tenor & Bari Saxophone and was teaching himself to play piano by ear. He graduated from high school in 2008 and had a 4 year scholarship to Huntington College through band. However; he wasn’t quiet sure about what it was he wanted to do. Once he had spoke with the recruiters from the Marine Corp where we live, and after speaking with the other branches, I knew immediately which branch he had decided on the moment he walked in the hospital room (his dad was in the hospital at the time), before he could speak, I said this to him, “I already know. You’re going with the Marine Corp”. He was like as he looked at his dad, “How does she do that?” A mother knows…I asked him why that branch, his response was simple and straightforward, “I want to be apart of the best!” …It wasn’t until after his death, during the funeral, one of the speakers, which was retired military and was our mayor and friend, I found out just how serious he had been before he had made his final decision; a decision that would change his life forever and would be one of the must important, he had gone to our mayor, Bryan, and talked to him about what he was contemplating. Jason didn’t take this decision lightly, so when he joined, he was very serious. I knew that day at the hospital he had found his calling.
Jason graduated boot on April 23, 2010, his dads birthday! Lol His duty station was 29 Palms and he was a combat engineer with 3rd CEB. He deployed September of 2011 to Afghanistan and was attached to 3/7. On October 24, 2011, Jason and his squad had left out on patrol. They had just secured this area the afternoon before. While on patrol, they came up on an area that some of the Afghan’s were harvesting corn. Prior to that he had noticed that there were some things that had been bothered since they had secured the area the day before. But, the squad was ordered on. They had cleared a wall in the area, and sometime during that, two Afghan boys come out of the field and got ahead of them, going behind another area. The dog and it’s handler, which had been up front with Jason, was then ordered to the rear. Why? During this time, Jason had found the decoy and two trip wires. During his investigation, he knew that he was dealing with remote IED’s and not pressure plated ones, what they called a daisy chain or squad buster, which are intended to take out the entire squad. The two boys, ages 12 and 16 (the 16 year old was Taliban) realized that Jason had found the IED’s detonated prematurely. Jason was down on one knee, doing what he was trained to do. When he realized what he was up against, he remained in place in a protective posture, turned his head towards the right and let out a “few frantic words” we were told and then his life was over. He took the full impact, still in a protective posture with the first IED killing him instantly and throwing him backwards so many feet and the other IED going off simultaneously. The squad consisted of 1 translator, 1 k9, and 8 Marines. All walked away with no injuries, not a scratch or even a hair out of place. Because of him finding the IED’s the one that had payed off the two boys, was later taken out through an air strike we’ve been told. From what we have gathered that was sometime later that month. That has not been completely confirmed, but some are beginning to talk. They had been ordered to have no contact with us after we started asking questions. Questions that first day we were notified because his injuries were not consistent with what the reports we had said. There is much more to this from finding out only about 2 years ago that the higher command knew the IEDS were that area but did not disclose that information to the squad. There was no NCO with them either, only an acting squad leader. The entire squad was made up of LCPL’s and/or a private. There were 2 CONGRITS going on between 2 senators offices for about 5 years because we couldn’t get any answers. We now know more and know that his death could have been prevented. I won’t go into all the particulars. We’ve been told that because if his actions that day, he should have been awarded the Medal of honor. Jason knew that he was going to die that day. That was confirmed by his platoon Sargent. But, he remained, to keep the others safe. However; he did receive THE BRONZE STAR w/cv two years later on March 7 th, 2013, his 24th birthday. Also, there has been a bill passed in our state, Alabama, that is now law. It’s been named after Jason. His dream was to help others, and he’s doing that. He will always be apart of Alabama’s history forever. It’s called THE JASON BARFIELD TAX RELIEF ACT. It’s designed to help the families left behind when their loved one is kia on foreign soil during war time. One less thing for the families to have to deal with. Jason also had a favorite motto, one that he truly lived by, and had been saying since he was in high school and continued to use while he was deployed to the middle of a war zone…”EVERY DAY IS A GOOD DAY”….If he could live by that where he was then so can I. I know where Jason is. He knew he wasn’t coming back, that was the part he hated the most. He had told a friend this, but he said that when it happened, God would be with him. And, good things would follow…I knew the instant he hugged my neck that day in the Atlanta Airport. I knew the moment I felt his arms around me. As I stood there with that realization, tears running down my face, I didn’t say a word to him about that feeling, he told me not to cry. He said, “ Awwe, mom, don’t cry, this isn’t goodbye, just until later”. Not long after he had deployed, the latter part of September, he had sent me a message. The usual stuff, how was everyone, he wished he was here to give me a great big hug. Then, he told me this, always remember that Ill always be looking over you….That’s gives me comfort and a certain peace, even though I miss him more and more…,I always will, but I know where he is and he will always be with me…
We had a great 11.83 Mile walk this morning. We started out walking by Lake Holiday. It was really dark but the lights reflecting off of the water was beautiful. We could hear geese in the water. We then walked out on Holiday Hills Drive and then took Mockingbird Dr to Myrtle Ave. We got a peak at the sunrise just before we reached Fourth Street but not enough to get a good photo. We then took Storie Ave then Stanley Street. We took Oak Drive where we got to see 5 deer. I was able to get a picture of two of them when they stopped to watch me. We then took Laurel Circle. It was a very nice area to walk in. All was quiet but the wildlife. A beautiful area. We then headed back out and took Prentice Street to Old Lantana Road and headed towards town. We stopped in at the War Memorial Park and read some names on the Memorial Wall. We then headed back towards the house. I want to thank everyone who honked, waved, and saluted in helping me honor this Hero. We had 215 honks today. It was amazing. Thank You !
Marine LCPL Jason N. Barfield will not be forgotten !
