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- [S4] Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee), 18 Nov 2010.
ET soldier killed in Afghanistan
Lillard had put life on hold for second enlistment in Army
By Matt Lakin
Friends said Nathan Lillard put his life on hold for a second turn at military service.
"He'd been in once before, and he always talked about going back," said Derrick Rubush, a former Knox County co-worker. "He never actually went overseas the first time, and he was pretty adamant about wanting to go. He stayed single, because he said he didn't feel right getting married before he went over there."
Lillard gave his life in that service this week. The 26-year-old Army specialist and East Tennessee native died Sunday in a shootout with rebel forces in the Watahpur district of Afghanistan's Kunar province, according to the Department of Defense.
Four other soldiers died in the attack, all serving with the 101st Airborne Division's 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment of the 1st Brigade Combat Team.
Lillard grew up in Southeast Tennessee's McMinn County but spent his junior and senior years at Lenoir City High School, where he graduated in 2003, Principal Steve Millsaps said. His death made him the school's first graduate killed in the Afghan conflict, the principal said.
Friends said Lillard had talked of a military career even a teenager. His former teachers remember him as a big, burly boy, quick with a smile, who loved to work with his hands.
"Whenever somebody mentions Nathan, I think of a huge guy like a teddy bear," said David Widby, who taught Lillard in graphic design. "He was an excellent kid, very respectful and soft-spoken. He was a mechanically inclined, hands-on student, really more interested in building and working with machines than in computers. He joined the military while he was still in school. He didn't say a lot, but he did say he wanted to serve his country, even in high school."
Lillard later lived in Knoxville and worked in the warehouse at Modern Supply on Lovell Road. He left to rejoin the Army and finish what he'd begun, friends said.
"If you met him once, you wouldn't forget him," said Rubush, who met Lillard on the job five years ago. "He made it so much easier to come to work, because he always made everybody else smile."
Lillard re-enlisted in November 2006 and arrived at Fort Campbell, Ky., in August 2009. He stayed in touch with friends and family through Facebook and came home on leave this spring.
"It was like he'd never left," Rubush said. "He was like he'd always been. He didn't really talk much about what was going on over there, but he was never negative."
Word of Lillard's death began spreading Monday night. A plane returned his body Tuesday to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
Lillard's mother, Helen Hyatt of Athens, Tenn., had gone to claim the body Wednesday. Funeral arrangements remained incomplete.
Sunday's attack also killed:
n Spc. Shane H. Ahmed, 31, of Chesterfield, Mich.
n Spc. Scott T. Nagorski, 27, of Greenfield, Wis.
n Spc. Jesse A. Snow, 25, of Fairborn, Ohio
n Pfc. Christian M. Warriner, 19, of Mills River, N.C.
Matt Lakin may be reached at 865-342-6306.
JOSE LUIS MAGANA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Soldiers carry the transfer case Tuesday with the body of Army Spc. Nathan E. Lillard of Lenoir City. Lillard was killed Sunday in Afghanistan.
- [S142] Newspaper Article, Times Free Press, 18 Nov 2010.
Soldier with local ties killed in Afghanistan
By Todd South
A 26-year-old soldier with family in McMinn County was one of five soldiers killed Sunday in Afghanistan.
U.S. Army Spc. Nathan E. Lillard, of Knoxville, died when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire, according to a Department of Defense news release.
Lillard was in Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st Airborne Division, based out of Fort Campbell, Ky.
He was an infantryman who joined the Army in November 2006.
Lillard was awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge during his time in the Army, according to a Fort Campbell release.
His mother, Helen Hyatt, of Athens, Tenn., traveled to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware earlier this week to claim his body.
Lillard's uncle, Chuck Lillard, confirmed that the family learned of his death Monday and would make announcements about funeral arrangements after Hyatt returned.
Fellow soldier Spc. Doug Riggs served with Lillard in training at Fort Benning, Ga., earlier in their careers. Riggs is currently serving in Ramadi, Iraq.
When contacted about his friend's death via Facebook he recalled an incident in which he broke his foot during training at the fort but still had to march back.
"I was having trouble keeping up with the platoon. Nathan told me to hold onto to the straps of his assault pack," Riggs wrote. "He literally pulled me over the hills. He carried his weight and mine that day.
"That is the way he was. That is how I'll always remember him. Self-sacrificing, strong, caring. A hero among men. My friend," Riggs wrote.
Four other soldiers were killed in the Sunday attack -- Spc. Shane H. Ahmed, 31, of Chesterfield, Mich.; Spc. Scott T. Nagorski, 27 of Greenfield, Wis.; Spc. Jesse A. Snow, 25, of Fairborn, Ohio; and Pfc. Christian M. Warriner, 19, of Mills River, N.C.
AFGHANISTAN CASUALTIES
A total of 1,393 American military personnel have been confirmed dead in the war in Afghanistan.
The following have ties to this region:
* Spc. Nathan Lillard of Knoxville, Tenn. was one of five soldiers killed Nov. 14, 2010, in Afghanistan.
* Sgt. Patrick Durham of the Suck Creek community was killed Aug. 28, 2010, in Afghanistan.
* Lance Cpl. Gregory Posey, 22, of Winchester, Tenn. was killed July 30, 2009, in Afghanistan.
* Sgt. Raymundo “Ray” Morales, 34, of Dawnville, Ga., was killed July 21, 2009, in Afghanistan.
* Lance Cpl. Seth Sharp, 20, of Adairsville, Ga., was killed July 2, 2009.
* 1st Sgt. John Blair (Ga National Guard) of Calhoun, Ga., was killed June 20, 2009, in Afghanistan.
* Sgt. Jeffery William Jordan, 21, of Cave Spring, Ga., was one of three soldiers from a Georgia National Guard unit killed in Afghanistan June 4, 2009.
IRAQ CASUALTIES
A total of 4,427 American military personnel have been confirmed dead in the Iraq war.
The following have ties to this region:
* Army Pvt. Thomas Edward Lee III, 20, of Dalton, Ga., died May 29, 2009 in Mosul of wounds suffered when an explosive device struck his vehicle.
* Army Cpl. Michael B. Alleman, 31 — a 1996 Southeast Whitfield High School graduate who had been living in Logan, Utah — died Feb. 23, 2009 in Balad of wounds sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
* Army Staff Sgt. Jonathan W. Dean, 25, of Henagar, Ala., died Dec. 20, 2008 from injuries sustained during a non-combat related incident in Tikrit.
* Army Capt. Darrick Wright, 37, of Nashville — formerly unit commander of the Army Reserve’s 390th Engineering Company in Chattanooga — died Sept. 17, 2008 in Baghdad of non combat-related cardiac arrest.
* Marine Lance Cpl. James M. Gluff, 20, of Tunnel Hill, Ga., died Jan. 19, 2008 in Ramadi while conducting combat operations.
* Army Command Sgt. Maj. Jonathan M. Lankford, 42, of Scottsboro, Ala., died Sept. 22, 2007 in Baghdad of non-combat related cardiac arrest.
* Marine Lance Cpl. Will Chambers, 20, of Ringgold, Ga., drowned on July 1, 2007 just off the shore of Anbar province in a non-hostile boat accident.
* Army Pfc. Travis Haslip, 20, of Ooltewah, died May 19, 2007 in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
* Army Sgt. Shawn Dunkin, 25, of Chattanooga and Columbia, S.C., died Feb. 19, 2007 in Baghdad after his vehicle was struck by an improvised explosive device.
* Army Sgt. John Michael Sullivan, 22, of Hixson, died Dec. 30, 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle while on combat patrol in Baghdad.
* Army Sgt. David Weir, 23, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 14, 2006 when he encountered enemy forces using rocket-propelled grenade and small-arms fire during combat operations in Baghdad.
* Marine Lance Cpl. Kristopher Cody Warren, 19, of Calhoun and Resaca, Ga., died Nov. 9, 2006 in a non-combat related shooting in Anbar province. The fellow Marine who shot Lance Cpl. Warren while playing with a rifle pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 27 months behind bars during a March 2008 court-martial.
* Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Scott, 24, of Ringgold, Ga., died Jan. 23, 2006 in a non-hostile vehicle accident near Taqaddum.
* Army 1st Sgt. Aaron Jagger, 43, formerly of Rossville, Ga., died Aug. 9, 2006 after an improvised explosive device detonated near his humvee while on combat operations in Ramadi.
* Army Sgt. James D. Stewart, 29, formerly of Chattanooga and a Fort Oglethorpe native, died June 21, 2005 after an improvised explosive device detonated near his military cargo truck in Rutbah.
* Army Pfc. James W. Price, 22, of Cleveland, Tenn., died Sept. 18, 2004 after an improvised explosive device hit his convoy vehicle in Baghdad.
* Marine Lance Cpl. Juan Lopez, 22, of Dalton, Ga., died June 21, 2004 during an ambush in Anbar province.
* Army Spc. Marshall Edgerton, 27, of Rocky Face, Ga., died Dec. 11, 2003 when his camp was attacked with an improvised explosive device in Ramadi.
* Marine Sgt. Brendon Reiss, 23 — a Wyoming native who is buried at the Chattanooga National Cemetery because his wife is from Cleveland, Tenn. — died March 23, 2003 in a grenade blast near Nasiriyah.
Sources: U.S. Department of Defense, icasualties.org, militarycity.com, Southeast Whitfield High School, newspaper archives.
- [S142] Newspaper Article, The Daily Post Athenian (Athens, TN), 19 Nov 2010.
Spc. Nathan Edward Lillard , 26, of Athens and Lenoir City, was killed in action in the Watahpur District, Kunar Province of Afghanistan, where he received small arms fire during a hostile attack on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2010.
He was born in East Ridge and was a longtime resident of Athens before moving to Lenoir City. He was preceded in death by his maternal grandmother, Leva Trentham; and his paternal grandmother, Odell Payne. He was a member of the U.S. Army, A Company, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade 101st Airborne Division of Fort Campbell, Ky. He had received numerous awards and decorations, including the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Medal, NATO Medal and Combat Infantryman Badge.
Survivors include his mother, Helen Marie Trentham Hyatt of Athens; his stepfather, Edward C. Hyatt of Lenoir City; one brother, Eric Lillard and his fiancée, Leonarda Beoddy, of Sweetwater; a very special friend of the family, Charlotte Jenkins of Niota; one aunt, Thelma Mason of Cleveland; two nieces, Ambrosia and Aurora Beoddy, both of Sweetwater; one cousin, Melinda Crews and her husband, Shawn, of Cleveland; and second cousins, Jordan Mason, and Brandon and Caleb Crews.
Graveside services will be 2 p.m. Monday at McMinn Memory Gardens with full military honors.
Pallbearers will be members of the military.
The family will receive friends from 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Ziegler Funeral Home.
If you are unable to attend the visitation or funeral service, sign the online registry at www.zieglerfuneralhome.com.
Ziegler Funeral Home of Athens is in charge of arrangements.
- [S147] Find a Grave, (Memorial: 61763679).
- [S131] Divorce Record.
Husband's Name Wife's First Name Wife's Maiden Name County Court Date of Divorce File #
LILLARD ROY E HELEN T [NOT GIVEN] MCMINN CIRCUIT 05-21-1987 08758
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