JAMESON LINDSKOG, SPC, USA, KIA AFGHANISTAN 29 March 2011

My apologies for this getting posted late. SPC Lindskog is a hero and a brother in arms to all servicemembers. More so he was a brother to myself and all medics from all services. He was a Doc..–D/C

SPC Jameson Lindskog, KIA AFGHANISTAN, 29 MAR 2011

Jameson Lindskog, 23, became an
Army medic to get the training and education he
would need to become a physical therapist.

On Tuesday, he was killed in Afghanistan while
using his new medical knowledge to help fellow
soldiers who had been shot, said his mother, Donna
Walker.

Army officials said that Lindskog was one of three
troops killed in that incident, one of six killed that
day in a continuing offensive operation in the
eastern Konar province near Pakistan.

Born in San Mateo, Lindskog moved to the Tri-Valley
as a middle school student and split his time
between his mom in Pleasanton and his dad, Curtis,
in Livermore. He attended Pleasanton Middle School,
Amador Valley High and Orion Academy, a private
school in Moraga.

Walker said that after getting his massage therapist
certificate from the National Holistic Institute in
Emeryville, her son decided he wanted to be a
physical therapist. He told her that he would get
training through the Army, and that it would also
look good on his résumé. Also, jobs were hard to
find because of the economy.

“It was to further his goals toward his occupation,”
Walker said. She said his four-year commitment was
to be finished in August 2012. “His idea was to join
the Army, get his education and come back.”

Walker said the Army gave her basic information
about the circumstances of her son’s death, but
through the family of others there, she learned he
was on patrol when they were shot at. Lindskog was then
shot trying to help the wounded.

“Jameson, as a medic, went to help others,” she said.

Lindskog was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th
Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st
Airborne Division (Air Assault).

Rick Rzepka, a spokesman at Fort Campbell, said an
investigation will determine what exactly happened.

“As a combat medic, his priority would have been to
render aid,” Rzepka said. “Typically, the medics are
held to a high regard because of the position they
hold.”

At a news conference Thursday, Maj. Gen. John
Campbell, commanding general of the 101st
Airborne Division, said the six soldiers who died
Tuesday were part of a large offensive operation
intended to disrupt a spring enemy buildup. He said
that American forces have fought there before, and
that a significant number of the enemy were killed.

“We knew that we would get a fight in there,” he said
of the continuing battle, dubbed “Operation Strong
Eagle III.” An Afghan soldier fighting with the U.S.
also died that day.

Walker said her son grew up interested in
computers and computer games and that he loved
animals. He volunteered for groups such as the
Valley Humane Society and Habitat for Humanity.

Besides his parents, Lindskog, who was the
youngest of three, is survived by his brother,
Kenneth Nekotani, of Paradise; sister, Candace
Khattab, of Winooski, Vt.; stepfather, Matthew
Walker, of Pleasanton; and stepmother, Jo Roby, of
Livermore. Donna Walker said each parent will hold
a private service.