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FORT CAMPBELL, KY. -- Twice this week, loved ones of Staff Sergeant Paul Mardis Jr. will be honoring and mourning the man who gave his young life for his country.
Formerly a student of Coshocton High School before moving to Florida, Paul died Thursday, July 15 of complications from combat injuries sustained in northern Iraq on May 19.
A military memorial service was held Tuesday in Fort Campbell, Ky., and a funeral is scheduled for Saturday in Coshocton.
Paul's sister, Sherri Lawrence, recounted his life as an endeavor to do his absolute best with everything he tried. His long list of achievements and decorations accumulated over six years of military service bears witness to that account.
"He firmly believed that he was defending his country," Lawrence said Monday. "He never did anything half, he always went above and beyond what was expected."
These habits dated back to Paul's childhood, broken as it was by setbacks -- the kind most children dread most -- the deaths of his parents. His father, Paul C. Mardis Sr., died when Paul was 10; his mother, Mary Ann Mardis died when he was 14.
Sherri Lawrence, nine years older than Paul, and her husband Tollison became Paul's guardians. At the end of his junior year, there was another disruption in his life: Sherri and Tollison moved to Florida for Paul's senior year -- something he wasn't happy about since he wanted to graduate with his friends.
But he kept in touch with his Coshocton friends throughout the year and also when he went to work at a fiberglass company and attended community college in Bradenton, Fla.
One of those close friends was Kacey Carroll, whom he married in October of 2002.
Once in the armed forces, Paul Mardis continued to excel.
According to army spokesperson Kelly Tyler, Mardis gained his first experience in the Middle East serving in the Sinai desert. He was tapped for training in the Special Forces engineer course and was an honor graduate at basic airborne school.
After he became a member of the Green Berets, he and his combat engineering unit were deployed to Iraq where he received the first of his two Purple Hearts after he was injured in a raid Sept. 12, 2003.
After recovering from his injuries, he returned to his unit.
"He wasn't about to let his brothers go over there on a tour and him not go with them," Lawrence said.
Paul's decision to join the Army didn't come until shortly before he enlisted.
"Actually, he wanted to go to college and play football -- he didn't really have the financial means to be able to do that," Lawrence said. "The main reason he joined was to get the GI Bill, to get the college degree."
At the time Paul was injured in northern Iraq, he was considering leaving the Army when his term of enlistment expired in May of 2005. He wanted to continue being with his brothers in arms while they were still deployed. However, he also wanted to start a family. But he felt the uncertain lifestyle of a Special Forces team member might be less than ideal for one who wishes to raise children.
"He didn't want to miss his kids growing up," Lawrence said. "In his line of work -- he could be gone 30 days or 30 months."
By the time he was injured he hadn't made up his mind, although he did put in an application with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He also wanted to finish at least an associate's degree.
Eventually, Paul would become a victim of what the Army calls an IED -- Improvised Explosive Device, or what the news media usually calls a "roadside bomb." He was riding in a "Humvee" vehicle standing in the gunner's position.
Paul suffered head injuries and doctors performed brain surgery on him in Baghdad. He was then transferred to a hospital in Germany before being flown back to the U.S. to recover at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.
At that point Sherri Lawrence and his wifekept Paul company at Walter Reed. But over the next two months he suffered from various complications, including pneumonia and pancreatitis.
The pneumonia initially receded, but it was discovered again the day before he died, Lawrence said.
Paul's death came as a shock to everyone including his Army brothers still in Iraq, Lawrence said. Although an autopsy has been performed, it will be weeks before the cause of death is determined
The family has established the Paul Mardis Memorial Scholarship Fund to benefit Coshocton High School students wishing to enter college. The goal, Lawrence said, is to help students who find themselves in the same position as Paul was in 1998 -- wanting to go to college but without the means to do so.
"That way, all of us will have a part in getting someone to go to school," Lawrence said.
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