Thomas Baysore Jr. - U.S. Military

Staff Sgt. Thomas A. Baysore, Jr., age 31, of Milton, Pennsylvania, died on September 26, 2013, in Paktya Province, Afghanistan, from wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire during combat operations.

It has been reported that Thomas was killed by an Afghan soldier who opened fire on a group of soldiers.

He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. He was a squad leader.

He joined the Army in June 2001 and was stationed at Camp Ederle, Italy, where he had a variety of assignments, including vehicle driver, rifleman, automatic rifleman, and fire team leader. He was also assigned to the Harrisburg Recruiting Battalion., Harrisburg, as a recruiter.

Following his assignment there, Thomas arrived at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in August of 2010.

This was his third deployment to Afghanistan. He deployed once prior to arriving at

Saint Joseph, pray for Thomas

Fort Campbell, in 2005, and again with the Division in 2010. He also deployed to Iraq in March of 2003.

His many awards include three Army Commendation Medals, five Army Achievement Medals, one Valorous Unit Award, one Army Superior Unit Award, four Army Good Conduct Medals, one National Defense Service Medal, three Afghanistan Campaign Medals, one Iraq Campaign Medal with Arrowhead, one Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, two Non-commissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, one Army Service Ribbon, one Overseas Ribbon, one NATO Defense Medal, one U.S. Army Basic Recruiter Badge-Silver with two Gold Achievement Stars, three U.S. Army Basic Recruiter Badge-Gold with three Star Sapphires, one Combat Infantryman's Badge, one Expert Infantryman's Badge, one Air Assault Badge, one Parachutist Badge, Parachutist Badge with Distinguished Device, Bronze Service Star, and one Expert Marksmanship Badge.

Thomas is survived by many loving friends and relatives including his mother, Sandra Hackerberg; his father Thomas Baysore; his wife Jamie Baysore; and his son, Jamie Baysore, (age 5).

Thank you for serving, Thomas.

Pray without ceasing unto God for an end to this war in Afghanistan. It is enough. We are sick with grief for men like Thomas.

Pray that Thomas is in heaven. Pray that he is at peace and is with God. Amen.