Sgt Jasper K. Obakrairur
Born: October 1, 1982 in in Palau
Death: June 1, 2009 in Nerkh, Afghanistan
Sgt. Jasper K. Obakrairur of Hilo, Hawaii was raised in Ngardmau, Palau. He was best known as ‘Jazz’ in his native Pacific island of Palau and as ‘Obie’ by his fellow soldiers who had a hard time pronouncing his sir name. After graduating from Ibobang High School in 2000, he moved to Hawaii on his own to further his education. He then began taking classes at the University of Hawai’i-Hilo. Inspired by a sense of duty and a plan for a better education, Obie joined the Army in March 2004 and has served at Fort Drum since August 2004. He was a graduate of the Combat Life Savers Course and Warrior Leader Course among others. His awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Joint Meritorious Unit Award, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal with Campaign Star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Noncommissioned Officer Professional Development Ribbon, Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal and Combat Infantry Badge and was posthumously awarded a bronze star and purple heart Tuesday. He had previously deployed to Afghanistan from January 2006 to May 2007. Obie is survived by his parents and a sister. He died at age 26 in Nerkh, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle. Two soldiers accompanied their friends body back to Palau. Upon an inspection of his remains before the funeral, they realized that a couple of Obie’s medals were missing. They replaced them with their own as they readied him for his funeral. Those soldiers were, Jason Vaughn and Chris Saenz who were from Obie’s company.
Army
2nd Battalion
87th Infantry Regiment
3rd Brigade Combat Team
10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)
Fort Drum, New York
Burial is in Palau
The Sgt Jasper K. Obakrairur by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
