Nicholas J. Lightner

Died: March 21, 2007

Rank: Sergeant

Unit: 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division

Branch: U.S. Army

Sergeant Nicholas J. Lightner was wounded on March 15, 2007, when a makeshift bomb detonated near his unit on combat patrol in Baghdad, Iraq. He succumbed to his wounds on March 21, 2007, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. The 29-year-old served with the 1st Squadron, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, out of Fort Hood, Texas, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. On his deathbed, the dedicated medic worried about the Soldiers he was unable to save. Even after he was wounded, Sergeant Lightner was able to save one other Soldier long enough for him to get to a hospital; tragically, that Soldier died three days later. Hundreds of mourners attended Lightner’s funeral services which were held at Bateman Funeral Parlor in Newport, Oregon, on March 30, 2007.