A Soldier with 101st Airborne’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team gives donated school supplies to an Iraqi girl. The donations were made by the Stokely Foundation, founded by the father of Sgt. Michael Stokely, a 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team Soldier who died Aug. 16, 2005.  (Contributed photo)

Memory of 48th BCT soldier lives-on at
Iraqi school

Georgia National Guard
Public Affairs Office

 The memory of a Georgia Army Guardsman killed nearly three years ago during Operation Iraqi Freedom continues to live on through the efforts of the foundation that bears his name and by those of the Soldiers now at the base where he served.

Students and teachers had looks of joy – and bewilderment – as Soldiers of the 101st Airborne at Patrol Base Yusifiyah handed out school supplies and toys at Mullah Fayad School in Yusifiyah, Iraq, on March 27.

 Children grinned from ear-to-ear as they looked over the treasure bestowed on them. When teachers asked who had sent the truckload of goods, they were surprised by the answer. Everything had been donated in the name of Sgt. Michael Stokely, who died Aug. 16, 2005, in Mullah Fayad.

Stokely, who lived in Sharpsburg, served at the time with Georgia’s 48th Infantry Brigade Combat Team. He died from wounds suffered after an explosive device exploded near him during a combat patrol. After his death, his father began the Mike Stokely Foundation. The organization put together a shipment of school supplies for citizens of the communities where Stokely served and died. It took an Army five-ton truck to deliver those supplies. 

Captain Michael Starz, a Pittsburgh native and commander of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, coordinated with Stokely’s father so the donations reached the most destitute people in Mullah Fayad. The unit distributed the school supplies along with a sizable donation from Sgt. Nathan Barnes’ family and community. Barnes, who also died while serving in the area, served with 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division.

 “Stokely’s dad is just a tremendous individual,” Starz said. “Mr. Stokely knew how much his son loved the children in the area that he worked with because the sergeant always sent home pictures of himself with kids. 

“He thought a lasting tribute to his son would be to do something for the children of the area,” Starz continued. “That’s just remarkable.” 

The foundation and the Barnes family donated a lot of stuff, said Hughes, Ark., native Staff Sgt. James Robinson, platoon sergeant for Company C’s 3rd Platoon. “It’s like the packages just wouldn’t stop … I know a lot of kids in the neighborhood appreciated that,” he added. 

Teachers received materials as well. Unlike the children, who were happy to get the gifts without asking who they come from, the teachers wanted to know who to thank. They could barely believe their ears when he told them, Starz said.

“They said it’s almost too much to imagine,” he said. “All the teachers wanted a copy of sergeant Stokely’s picture, and they wanted the foundation’s name so they could frame it and put it up in their school.

“They say it’s something the Quran teaches – ‘The forgiveness of your enemies.’ But it’s so hard to do … that it’s never actually seen.”

Changing Iraqi opinion about Americans is important to winning in insurgent warfare, said Starz. When folks in the States, like the Stokely family, donate materials, it positively impact the abilities of ground forces, he said.

 “People send us care packages and things like that – and that’s fantastic – but this is directly relating to our ability to accomplish our mission.” Starz said. “It’s almost the modern ‘Rosie the Riveter’ type of thing. You’re not going to the factories and working, but you’re doing something to enable and provide another tool for the combat Soldier on the ground.”

 

Editor’s Note: Story and photo provided by Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback, 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division.

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