Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley—June 2010 Shipment Honoree

The TF 1-10 FA Command Sergeant Major during OIF III provided this statement in regards to SSG Hartley, "There is no greater honor than to be called a Soldier and SSG Jeffery Hartley was a damn fine Soldier."

Army Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley remembered

The Associated Press

Despite a sense of humor that bordered on goofball, there was little question that Jeffery L. Hartley meant business when it was time to work.

“He was a no-nonsense professional when the mission was on. You could always count on him,” said Brig. Gen. Francis Mahon.

Hartley, 25, of Hempstead, Texas, died April 8 in Kharguliah, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle struck an explosive. He was assigned to Fort Benning.

“Everyone he befriended came to feel like a member of Jeff’s family,” said Mahon. “Jeff was a caring young man who always took the time to ensure that others were OK.”

Hartley grew up in Hempstead, played for the high school football team and was liked and respected. He went on active duty in June 2001.

He was the first local soldier to fall in combat in Iraq and was remembered above all for his warmth and concern toward fellow soldiers.

He is survived by his father and stepmother, David and Ann Hartley.

His father is a longtime Hempstead police officer, said Detective Jason Martinez. “He truly loved being in the military,” Martinez said.

Army Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley

Remember Our Heroes

Army Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley, 25, of Hempstead, Texas

SSgt. Hartley was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Benning, Ga.; died April 8, 2008 in Kharguliah, Iraq, of wounds sustained when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device.

Houston Chronicle -- On Tuesday, Army Staff Sgt. Jeffery L. Hartley, 25, of Hempstead, was killed when an improvised bomb exploded near his vehicle in Iraq. He was on his fifth tour of duty.

Thursday in Hempstead, the Waller County seat about 50 miles northwest of Houston, flags flew at half-staff at City Hall and the Police Department, where Hartley's father, Lt. David Hartley, has worked for 16 years.

Students at Hempstead High School, Hartley's alma mater, spoke about the fallen soldier in hushed tones.

"He truly loved being in the military," said Hempstead police Detective Jason Martinez, a family friend. "He was very passionate about it."

Martinez said Hartley had been in the Army for six years and had made the Army his career.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 10th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Benning, Ga.

His brother, David Hartley, also served in Iraq and recently left the military, Martinez said.

Martinez said the elder Hartley often speaks about his two sons with admiration and respect.

"He's always talking about how proud he is of both of them," he said.

Jeffery Hartley graduated from Hempstead High School in 2001. He played on the football team and was a member of the power-lifting squad, said Gail Schroeder, his 12th-grade English teacher.

Schroeder said he was a good student who made A's and B's and was popular and respectful.

"He was one of those kids who was at home with the athletes and scholars," she said.

Hartley's classmates have graduated by now, she said, but his death was the talk of the campus Thursday. She said as far as she knew, he was the first soldier from the community to die in Iraq.

"Even though they didn't know him," she said, "the students were sad to lose one of their own."

http://livinglegendteam.blogspot.com/2008/04/army-staff-sgt-jeffrey-l-hartley.html