Staff Sgt James A. Justice
Born: June 30, 2024 in Manning Iowa
Died: April 23, 2024 in Kapisa, Afghanistan
Staff Sgt. James A. Justice of Grimes, Iowa grew up in Manilla and is a 1997 graduate of Irwin-Kirkman-Manilla High School where he played on the football team as a receiver. James enjoyed competing in the annual festival at horseshoes and handing out with his friends. He and his best friend, Jason Erb, spent a great deal of time together, and both set out for serving in the military after graduation. James opted for the Army while Jason chose the Air Force. James enlisted as an Infantryman completing his Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training at Ft. Benning, Georgia in May of 1999. He previously deployed to Kuwait in support of Operation Desert Spring in 2001, the Multinational Force Observer peacekeeping mission in Sinai Peninsula, Egypt from 2003-2004, and Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005-2006. Prior to his mobilization, he was employed full-time by the Iowa National Guard at Camp Dodge, Johnston, Iowa. In keeping with Air Force tradition, best friend, Jason, who received his pilot’s wings, broke them in half, giving half to his best friend, James. When Jason was married, unable to attend, James served as his honorary best man while serving in Iraq. When James married, Jason served his best friend as his best man. James died at age 32 at Kapisa province, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was killed while trying to rescue the crew of a helicopter that crashed in eastern Afghanistan. After getting the news of James’ death, Jason is flew back from his deployment in South Korea to be at his best friends memorial and reunite the two pieces of the pilot’s wings. He leaves his wife, Amanda, his daughter, Caydence, his parents, Larry and Lillian Justice, a brother, Kenneth and two sisters Denise and Christina.
Army
National Guard
1st Squadron
113th Cavalry Regiment
Le Mars, Iowa
Burial is at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia - Sec 60 Site 9617
To be updated…
The Staff Sgt James A. Justice by Freedom Remembered, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
