Gerald R. Jenkins

Spc. Gerald Robert Jenkins, age 19, died October 20, 2010, after an improvised explosive device detonated while his unit was on foot patrol in Maquan, Zhari district, Afghanistan.

Gerald Jenkins was the sort of young man who thought of others before he thought of himself, said his father, Roger D. Jenkins. Gerald Jenkins joined the Army in 2008 at age 17 after earning his high-school equivalency certificate. He wanted to make a better life for himself.  Gerald Jenkins thrived in the Army. He had been in Afghanistan for only five or six weeks, his father said, when he called home and said he had rejoined the Army for six more years. 

Gerald Jenkins was a combat engineer assigned to the 1st Brigade Special Troop Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division out of Fort Campbell, Ky.  "He was very brave and a patriot," Mr. Jenkins said. "He wanted to make a difference, and it cost him his life." 

Besides his father and his mother, Carla K. McNamara, Gerald Jenkins is survived by a half-brother, Shane Jenkins, 28, and a half-sister, Maranda Wooten, 18. 

Let us pray to God the Father, Jesus, all of the saints and all of the angels that Gerald Jenkins is in heaven. Let us pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen