Hundreds Gather To Mourn Arkansas Soldier
By: Import User
Updated: January 7, 2009
As an operatic voice belted out the
"Battle Hymn of the Republic," hundreds mourned the death of Second Lieutenant James Michael Goins at a funeral service in Green Forest. Goins was killed August 15th in Iraq. The muscular, 23 year old tank platoon leader had been patroling a graveyard in the flashpoint city of Najaf. A member of radical cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr`s militia climbed up the back of the tank and shot Goins and another soldier at point-blank range. Goins lived in Bonner Springs, Kansas, but grew up in Carroll County. His parents, Jim and Tammy Goins, still live in the
community of Oak Grove, just north of Green Forest. An official at First Baptist Church in Green Forest said more than 250 people were in the pews for the 10:00 service and nearly as many were in overflow tents outside. Governor Mike Huckabee has ordered all Arkansas flags flown at half-staff today in Goins` memory.
