Remembering Sgt. Webster

During a special father-daughter time at their home, father LeRoy Webster, along with daughters Natasha and Kaydence, proudly displayed their tattoos. (Photo submitted)

Sgt. LeRoy Webster, 28, of Hartley, is known as a "hero" by his wife, Jessica, and their three daughters: Natasha, 9, Kaydence, 5, and Jadyn, 2.

Webster will be remembered by others who knew him as a person who gave "110 percent all the time."

It's who he was.

The military and his family are what he believed in wholeheartedly.

Jessica Webster described her husband as, "Strong. Always there for you. He'd go out of his way to help anybody. Best father. Loved his kids. Love of my life."

The two were high school sweethearts. They began dating her junior year and his senior year at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School.

At her home Tuesday, the face of the grief-stricken Jessica softened as she recalled, "One date was all it took."

The former high school golfer, baseball and football player also loved being outdoors.

"I soon realized if I wanted to see him in the summer, I was going to need to learn how to golf. Because if I didn't know how to golf, I wasn't going to see him in the summer. So, I learned to golf," Jessica said with a wistful smile. "And, every kid, as soon as she could hold golf clubs -- or before -- was on the golf course with us."

While some young boys dream of becoming firefighters, pirates, astronauts or professional sports stars, Webster planned on becoming a career military man.

A banner honoring the late Sgt. LeRoy Webster sits outside the Hartley home of his wife, Jessica, and their three daughters: Natasha, Kaydence and Jadyn Webster. (Photo by Kris Todd)

"In his head, there was no better job," Jessica said.

"I supported him 110 percent," she added. "It's what he loved to do. And if he was happy, I was happy."

After having their first of three daughters and marrying, Webster joined the military as a member of the Iowa National Guard.

In 2002, he was called to duty with an Algona-based National Guard unit that provided security at a Department of Defense installation in Newport, Ind. Webster also deployed to Afghanistan with a Council Bluffs-based unit in 2004 and 2005.

"His first tour overseas was hard," Jessica recalled. "They didn't have the cell phones or the open, easy access to communication that they're now starting to get."

After returning from Afghanistan, Webster and his family moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., and he transferred to active duty Army in March 2006. According to his wife, the then-Fort Hood, Texas stationed soldier had no reservations about the change.

"None at all. It was what he wanted to do and what he loved to do. And I knew that," she said. "That's who he was -- and that's why I loved him."

From October 2006 to January 2008, Webster deployed for Operation Iraqi Freedom and served with the U.S. Army in Baghdad. His last deployment, which marked as his third combat tour overseas, began in January 2009 in Kirkuk. Webster was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

Sgt. LeRoy Webster posed for a picture with "Flat Natasha," a school project he was asked by his 9-year-old daughter Natasha to help with while working in Iraq. (Photo submitted)

The Websters usually talked daily, whether via calling or texting on the computer.

Before being notified of her husband's death on Saturday, Jessica Webster was excited to visit with him. Natasha, their eldest daughter, who is among the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn third grade students taking part in a "Flat Stanley" project, had received the videotape, pictures and report prepared and mailed by Webster from Iraq. After reading the storybook penned by Jeff Brown, students designed paper Flat Stanleys of themselves and began journaling, documenting the places and activities Flat Stanley had visited and been involved in.

"She picked to send it to her dad. She was their little mascot. She traveled everywhere with them," the 27-year-old mother said of Natasha's version, which was aptly named Flat Natasha. "It meant a lot to him that she wanted to send Flat Natasha to him."

"We got it on Friday. Unfortunately, we didn't get a lot of time to go over it," Jessica said, suggesting they will save the special treasure from Dad for another time.

"He was a great guy who loved the military and loved his family," she continued, with tears flowing down her face. "He always went beyond what he needed to do. If somebody needed help, he was there to help them, to guide them. He would have done anything he could for anyone."

Of herself and their relationship, Jessica added, "I was happy to be that Army wife who was there to wash those dirty clothes, to help him when he brought his work home and take care of his kids."

Webster's military decorations and awards include the: Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Meritorious Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon and Overseas Service Ribbon.

Services for the fallen soldier who gave "110 percent all the time" will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 2 at the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School in Hartley, with burial at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Hartley.

Northwest Iowa soldiers who have died in action since operations in Iraq and Afghanistan began in March 2003:

* U.S. Army Sgt. LeRoy Webster, 28, of Hartley, died April 25, 2009, after being shot while on dismounted patrol near Kirkuk, Iraq.

* Army Spc. Chad Groepper, 21, of Kingsley, died Feb. 17, 2008, of combat wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his dismounted patrol in Diyala Province, Iraq.

* Army Sgt. Adrian Hike, 26, of Sac City, was killed Nov. 12, 2007, while on patrol in Afghanistan.

* Army Cpl. Llythaniele Fender, 21, of Onawa, was killed June 10, 2007, by a vehicle-based improvised explosive device in Karbula, Iraq.

* Army Spc. Brian Botello, 19, of Alta, was killed April 29, 2007, when a bomb exploded near his unit in Baghdad.

* Army Pfc. William Thorne, 26, of Hospers, was killed Aug. 24, 2006, when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle while he was on patrol near Baghdad.

* Marine Lance Cpl. William Leusink, 21, of Maurice, was killed May 22, 2006, by a roadside bomb while patrolling in Haqlanyah, Iraq.

* First Sgt. Toby Meister, 30, of Remsen, was killed Dec. 28, 2005, when a bomb exploded near his Humvee during combat patrol operations south of Asadabad, Afghanistan.

* Army National Guard Sgt. Gregory Tull, 20, of Pocahontas, died Nov. 25, 2005, in Al Anbar Province of Iraq, when insurgents detonated a bomb next to the armored Humvee in which he was the gunner.

* Iowa Army National Guard Spc. Casey Byers, 22, of Schleswig, was killed June 11, 2005, south of Ar Ramadi, Iraq, when a bomb detonated beneath the Humvee he was riding.

* Army Spc. David Rice, 22, of Sioux City, was killed April 25, 2005, when a rocket-propelled grenade struck the military vehicle he was riding near Muqdadiyah, Iraq.

* Army Staff Sgt. Shane Koele, 25, of Hartley, was killed in action March 16, 2005, in Afghanistan.

* Cpl. Nathan Schubert, 22, of Cherokee, died Jan. 26, 2005, when the helicopter he was in crashed in a western Iraqi sandstorm.

* National Guard Spc. Daryl Davis, 20, of Spencer, died Nov. 29, 2004, when his Humvee was in an accident traveling between military camps in Iraq.

I am a Soldier, Never to be Forgotten

Here I sit ... Silent, watching, observing, thinking. I am far from home.

Far away from the ones that I love, and the ones who love me.

I want to go home. I miss my family, my friends. Yet I stay here.

I have been called here. My country needs me, my Lord needs me. I am here by his will.

I am here to protect. To protect my family, my friends. I am here to protect all those who believe in the Lord and our freedoms.

Sometimes I may sleep outside, in a tent, or in a vehicle.

Yet I will continue. I must continue. Continue to protect the freedoms to which I was born.

The freedoms that our forefathers fought and died to give us.

I will continue for the faith that I have had since childhood, and for the children of tomorrow.

I have chosen my path. I have chosen to help.

To help in the fight against those who threaten my family, my friends, and my country.

I shall do all that I can to protect all the freedoms in which so many take for granted.

For I am a Soldier.

I am a Soldier sent to protect our faith, freedoms, and our country.

I shall be a Soldier as long as I live ... and after.

For the Lord will not abandon me, or those who choose to believe in him.

And, I shall not abandon him. I am a Soldier.

I am a Soldier, never to be forgotten.

* Written by Sgt. LeRoy Webster for the funeral of Staff Sgt. Shane Koele, a fellow Hartley soldier who died while serving overseas in Afghanistan.