Services set Sat. for soldier
Services for a local soldier killed in Iraq last week have been set for 3 p.m. Saturday at Grove Level Baptist Church near Maysville.
Shaun J. Whitehead, formerly of Maysville, was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol last week.
Whitehead’s body will be flown to Athens Friday. From there, he will be taken up Hwy. 441 to Commerce, arriving around 10:30 a.m.
From there, he will be transported to Jefferson around 11 a.m. to Evans Funeral Home.
The public is encouraged to line the streets in the two towns as the body is brought home to honor the fallen soldier, officials said.
Vistation at Evans Funeral Home will be held Friday from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m.
According to the Army, Whitehead, 24, was on foot patrol in Iskandariyah Thursday when an improvised explosive device exploded. He was an infantryman assigned to A Company, 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
He is survived by his widow, Janie Moore Whitehead, son Gabriel “Gabe” Whitehead, 7, and daughter Janna Moore, 12, all of Fort Campbell, Ken.; his mother, Rebecca Whitehead, Maysville; a sister, Amber Whitehead, Maysville; and his grandfather Coy O’Shield, Maysville.
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Whitehead attended Commerce City Schools. Commerce assistant superintendent of schools, Joy Tolbert, remembers Whitehead as quiet, polite and respectful.
“He transferred from Gwinnett County to our middle school and continued here until tenth grade,” she said. “He was a very reserved young man who sort of kept to himself. He was very likeable and had a lot of friends and had good relationships with his teachers. He was not very outspoken, but when he did speak, he was very respectful with his remarks.”
One of his best friends was Michael Collins, a CHS standout in football and basketball who, after playing football at Clemson University, is a deputy sheriff in South Carolina.
“We basically had everything in common,” Collins recalled in a telephone interview. “We both enjoyed video games, a big bowl of cereal in the morning, even our handwriting was the same. We both enjoyed weapons and knives and playing ninja and stuff. I spent a lot of time at his house with his mom and sister.”
Like Collins, Whitehead played football, but he injured a knee on his first carry in the ninth grade. He left CHS in the tenth grade, but he and Collins remained friends.
“We spent most of the time at his house after we met,” said Collins. “I lived with him a little bit.
They remained friends after Collins went to college and Whitehead got his GED and joined the Army. Collins visited Whitehead in Kentucky a couple of times.
Whitehead joined the Army in 2003. He was due to return to the U.S. at the end of May.
His awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal; Iraqi Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon and Combat Infantry Badge. He was qualified as “expert” with the M4.
