"Fallen but never forgotten, Blessing worked as my A.G., In weapons squad(Maggots)Third Platoon(Earthpigs)Aco 2/75. Blessing was a Great soldier always giving 110% day in and day out. A person whom everyone knew. You are a great soldier Blessing. Rangers Lead the Way!"
SGT J. Arredondo Aco2/75 RGR of Tempe, AZ
No. 855-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 16, 2003
DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
Sgt. Jay A. Blessing, 23, of Tacoma, Wash., was killed on Nov. 14 in Asadabad, Afghanistan. Blessing died of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device.
Blessing was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Lewis, Wash.
A 23-year-old Tacoma man who was a member of the Army's premier 75th Ranger Regiment was killed Friday shortly after he was deployed to Afghanistan.
Sgt. Jay Anthony Blessing was killed after the Humvee he was riding in was struck by an explosive device in Afghanistan's Kunar province. Blessing was evacuated to a combat-support hospital at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, where he died.
An infantryman assigned to the 2nd battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment at Fort Lewis, Blessing was a decorated soldier who was sent to the Middle East earlier this month.
Members of the Blessing family, reached by phone yesterday, declined to comment.
Blessing attended Lincoln High School in Tacoma, where he was involved in Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). He volunteered for the Army shortly after he graduated in 1998.
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Al Harmon, an ROTC instructor at Lincoln, said Blessing had made a decision early on to join the military — and he was serious about it.
"I thought he was well-grounded. He didn't have a big head about things. If you started up a conversation, it wasn't like some of these guys, they hang you a line of crap. He knew what he was talking about. That's why you felt you knew what he wanted," Harmon said.
"Just having the label, being in the Ranger battalion, says something about the hours and the dedication," Harmon said.
Carl Wilson, chairman of Lincoln's English department, recalled Blessing as quiet and bright.
"A lot of kids get superficial in discussions," said Wilson, who had Blessing as a student in two English courses. "But when he had something to say, it was more insightful ... He seemed to have a lot of information that kind of startled the other kids. It was always an 'A-ha!' for the other kids.' "
After graduation, Blessing returned to his high school several times to visit teachers and friends. Wilson said Blessing sported shoulder-length hair in high school but returned to campus with a military haircut and proudly wearing his uniform.
Blessing attended the Basic Airborne Course and Ranger Indoctrination Program and graduated from the U.S. Army Ranger Course and Primary Leadership Development Course. He was promoted to sergeant in June 2002.
Blessing had been awarded the Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, the Army Service Ribbon, the Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge and the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment Combat Shoulder Sleeve Insignia and Ranger tab.
He is survived by his father, James A. Blessing of Tacoma, and several siblings of the Tacoma area.
Joe Hitt, public-affairs spokesman for Fort Lewis, said the military mourns whenever it loses one of its own. "I imagine the Rangers will hold a memorial sometime for the soldier who gave his life to fight against terrorism," Hitt said. "When you are in the military, when you sign up, you know that you may be involved in a situation where you might be placed in harm's way. There is the possibility of being killed or injured in combat, and that is something that is part of the job."
The last Fort Lewis soldier killed while serving abroad was Green Beret 1st Class Nathan R. Chapman, 31, of Puyallup, who died in January 2002 in Afghanistan.
Sgt. Jay A. Blessing was killed Friday when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy in eastern Afghanistan.
Blessing was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment from Fort Lewis, Wash.
He was on patrol in Kunar province when the bomb exploded. The patrol was part of Operation Mountain Resolve, a coalition anti-terror sweep through eastern Afghanistan.
Blessing was evacuated to a combat support hospital at Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan, but later died from his wounds, Defense Department officials said. Blessing was 23 and a native of Tacoma, Wash.
He joined the Army in August 1998 and the 75th Ranger Regiment in January 1999.
He is survived by his father, James A. Blessing, and his brother, Jason Blessing.
SEATTLE (AP) -- A 23-year-old Fort Lewis special operations soldier deployed in Afghanistan was killed when he drove over a homemade land mine, the Defense Department confirmed Sunday.
A news release posted to the Defense Department's Web site Sunday afternoon said Sgt. Jay Anthony Blessing, of the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, died Friday in Asadabad, Afghanistan.
Family members, who declined to be identified, told KOMO-TV that an Army chaplain met with them on Friday and told them Blessing had been killed.
Central Command announced Friday that a special operations soldier was killed earlier that day, when his Humvee ran over a land mine in the Kunar province of Afghanistan. The report did not include the soldier's name.
Officials at Fort Lewis and a Special Operations command center in Fort Bragg, N.C., declined to comment Sunday.
Blessing's relatives told KOMO he shipped out to the Middle East two weeks ago.
A native of Tacoma and a graduate of Lincoln High School, Blessing is survived by his father, Jim Blessing, and two brothers.
