2 people shot and killed less than a mile from my house.
One of my high school friends had been shot in the neck by a sniper during his 3rd tour in Afghanistan about 10 months ago died last month after over 100 surgeries.
Army Sgt. Jamie Jarboe, 27, of Frankfort died Wednesday in Topeka, Kan., from injuries suffered April 10, 2011, when a sniper's bullet hit him while he was on a foot patrol in southern Afghanistan.
Funeral services are pending, said a representative of Penwell-Gabel Southwest Chapel in Topeka.
Jarboe is the 10th local or area member of the military to die in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The total U.S. deaths in both wars is 6,367, according to the Military Times.
Jarboe was a 2003 Frankfort High School graduate. His parents are Andy Jarboe and Joy Shoemaker.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reported Monday that Jarboe, who had been in hospice care, suffered a collapsed airway last week.
On her Facebook page, his widow, Melissa Wallace-Jarboe said, "We will carry on with a military memorial here in Kansas and will also do a memorial in Indiana for friends and family to pay respect. Jamie's mothers and father will attend the military memorial at Fort Riley (Kan).
"There are no words that can describe what this last week has been like knowing that my husband and I would never have a life we always dreamed of."
Jamie and Melissa Jarboe, 32, celebrated their one-year wedding anniversary on Feb. 14, Valentine's Day. She has two daughters, Celestial and Alexa, whom the couple was raising. The family made their home in Topeka and were contemplating adopting a child.
Sgt. Jarboe was assigned to A Troop, 1st Platoon, 4th Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division based out of Fort Riley, Kan.
He was deployed Feb. 28, 2011, to Forward Operating Base Wilson, which is near the city of Kandahar. He also has two previous deployments to Iraq, where he won a Combat Action Badge.
The sniper's bullet hit Jarboe in the left side of his neck, damaging his trachea and surrounding area, along with his upper spinal column. The massive injuries left him paralyzed from the chest down. He also had difficulty swallowing and talking.
Jarboe rehabilitated at Walter Reed National Hospital in Bethesda, Md.; Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore; and Craig Hospital in Denver.
He underwent more than 100 surgeries in 10 months. Last August, Jarboe began to talk and continued to rehab.
According to the Topeka newspaper, Jarboe flew to Topeka on Feb. 17 and received a hero's welcome. He was then taken to a Topeka area hospital where he continued the fight for his life.
Melissa Jarboe said on her Facebook page: "Jamie wants his friends and family to remember him how he was, not who he became."
We used to jam on guitar outside our apartment complex making up the dumbest songs about squirrels on skateboards.
Long as I remember The rain been coming down. Clouds of Mystery pouring Confusion on the ground. Good men through the ages, Trying to find the sun; And I wonder, Still I wonder, Who'll stop the rain.
