Story by: Sgt. Antonieta Rico
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq -- A five-person choir lifted their voices to the mournful notes of "Amazing Grace" Jan. 7 in a small section of Camp Al-Nasr. The choir performed during a memorial service to honor a fallen comrade. The voice of the fifth member of the choir, Spc. Jeff LeBrun, was missing, however. Instead LeBrun's M16, Kevlar, dog-tags and boots were mute participants in the poignant harmony.
LeBrun's singing was forever silenced Jan. 1st when an improvised explosive device went off near his vehicle during a security escort with C Battery, 2nd Battalion, 15th Field Artillery Regiment.
To most Americans LeBrun, who was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, but was raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. , is another number to add to the list of those killed in action, to his fellow Soldiers at 2-15th, that number has a name; Jeff.
To most Americans LeBrun is another faceless hero, to his fellow Soldiers, that hero always wore a smile on his face.
To Pfc. Derek Jent, LeBrun was the only choice for best man at his wedding.
"He always supported me no matter what I was doing," Jent said. "He was the person to have your back."
LeBrun had a joy of life he shared with his fellow Soldiers.
"From the time I met him he was always smiling," Jent said, "Everyone knew where he was when he was there."
"He made people smile because he was always dancing around like Usher," said Spc. Kevin Vaughn, an Army buddy of LeBrun.
He also had the vocal chords to go with the dancing.
"He had the voice of an angel," Vaughn said. "He put a smile in everybody's face."
When LeBrun had some free time he would sing Karaoke at the Morale and Welfare tent here at (Camp Liberty) or talk to his family in the internet café and download music, Jent said.
LeBrun was looking forward to seeing his family and was planning on buying a car when he returned to the states.
"He was ready to get serious with a girl back home," Vaughn said
Vaughn reflected on the fact that people in the states are detached from the effects of a war they only see on TV.
Vaughn stares blindly off to the distance for a while, looking inwardly, "It's not a joke," he says finally, "It's real out here. It's real. At any given moment someone could just go down."
But although LeBrun is one of those who went down, his memory won't go down with him.
"He is inside of us at all times," Jent said.
"Everything he did had music to it."
| Date Taken: | 01.25.2005 |
| Date Posted: | 01.25.2005 10:45 |
| Story ID: | 921 |
| Location: | CAMP LIBERTY, IQ |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 18 |
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