James R. Leep

Staff Sgt. James R. Leep Jr., age 44, of Richmond, Virginia, died on October 17, 2011, of non-combat related injuries, in Babil province, Iraq. 

He was assigned to the 2nd Squadron, 183rd Cavalry Regiment, 116th Brigade Combat Team, Portsmouth, Virginia.

He was assigned to the Gate City-based 1033rd Engineer Company as a combat engineer and construction equipment supervisor. He was reassigned to Troop A as a truck commander for the unit’s convoy security mission and was commander for a convoy escort team.

James Leep first joined the National Guard in April 1986 and served on active duty from December 1987 to August 1995 as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic. He rejoined in January 1996 and worked as a combat engineer and construction equipment supervisor. He worked full time as surface maintenance repairer technician for the Virginia National Guard at field maintenance shop #14 in Richlands.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe,
pray for James

His previous deployments include Bosnia from September 2001 to April 2002, Iraq from December 2003 to March 2005, the southwest U.S. border security mission from June to August 2006, and Afghanistan from November 2008 to January 2010.

James is survived by many loving friends and relatives including his wife, two adult children and a sister.

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