08/09/2005 - DoD Identifies Army Casualty

The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Sgt. Jonathon C. Haggin, 26, of Kingsland, Ga., died on July 30, 2005 in Baghdad, Iraq, where an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV while he was on patrol.

Three other soldiers whose names were announced on August 5, 2005, were also killed in this incident. Haggin was assigned to the Army National Guard's 2nd Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade, Albany, Ga.

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Update 8:14

Soldier centered on child, military

By JACK MORSE
The Brunswick News

The memorial service for Jonathon Haggin was almost over when his 2-year-old daughter, Leaundra, toddled toward the front.

She picked up Haggin's Marine Corps dress uniform hat that had been placed on a table in his honor and made her way back to her family in the first row of seats.

"This is Daddy's hat," she said as she smiled.

She has not yet realized that her father, 26, was killed in action Saturday in Iraq.

"She doesn't know," said Haggin's former brother-in-law, Carlos Martinez, after the service. "She can't comprehend it."

Semper Fi