Sgt James Allen McHale
Born May 12, 1977 in Great Falls, Montana
Died June 30, 2008 in Bethesda, Maryland
Sergeant Jimmy McHale, of Fairfield, Montana. The son of retired Airman Joel McHale and his wife Bonnie, Jimmy moved around a lot growing up, moving to Fairfield when his father retired. Montana gave him the opportunity to enjoy camping in the Bob Marshall area. He also enjoyed golf, chess, other challenging games, video gaming, hockey and was a computer whiz. He spent 7 years in the Fairfield schools, and after graduating in 1995 from Fairfield High School, he joined the United States Army. First serving as a mechanic at Fort Carson, Colorado. When his enlistment ended, he still served his country by joining the Montana Army National Guard. He rejoined the Army in 2005 and was working as a bomb detector, a job he dearly loved. “Mac”, as his fellow soldiers called him, possessed great optimism about life, he was funny and although a man of few words, he always had words of wisdom. He knew how to keep his soldiers calm and in check. Several times he passed up promotions because he loved his job and soldiers so much. Fearless and proud of his work, he was assigned to the 40th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, based at Baumholder, Germany. He was on his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was severely injured by a roadside bomb on July 22, 2008, in Taji. He was being treated at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. His family removed him from life-support on July 30 and he passed away with his family near him. He lives on through organ donation. He received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, Army Accommodation Medal, three Army Achievement Medals, Global War on Terrorism Medal, two National Defense Medals and the Combat Action Badge. He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He is buried at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Fairfield, Montana.
The Sgt James Allen McHale by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
