Kentucky honors First Sgt. John D. Blair
Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear today recognized the sacrifice of a Kentucky native solider who died while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. According to the Department of Defense, First Sgt. John D. Blair, 38, of Calhoun, Ga., died June 20, 2009 in Mado Zayi, Afghanistan of injuries sustained when a rocket propelled grenade struck his vehicle. He was assigned to A Company, 1st Battalion, 121st Infantry Regiment, Army National Guard, Lawrenceville, Ga. Sgt. Blair was a 1990 graduate of Cumberland High School in Harlan County.
Gov. Beshear will order that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff from sunrise to sunset on the day of First Sgt. Blair’s interment for which arrangements are still pending.
Reporter Dianna Cahn, writing in the
Stars and Stripes, describes the events of June 20:
The gunner’s weapon was blazing over Staff Sgt. Timothy Bellinger’s head. He jumped from window to window of his armored vehicle, trying to make out the battle that 1st Sgt. John Blair was fighting in the gunner’s position above him. Bellinger felt the strike of a rocket-propelled grenade as it tore through the turret. He heard Blair’s gun cease firing. He saw the body of a man who always pushed his guys to do it right, slump lifelessly in the belt.
“Right before this, he said to me ‘I love you, brother. Take care of yourself. Be safe,’ ” said a long time friend, Sgt. Ryan Popejoy [who was in a vehicle next to Blair’s and saw the incident], fingering a few spent gun rounds that had fallen in his pocket. “He went out with his boots on and his guns blazing.”
“He pushed me to a point where I didn’t think I can be. If it wasn’t for him, I never would have gone to Ranger school. Now that he’s gone, it’s the only thing I know how to do. He used to tell us that integrity was the checks and balances in life. You don’t ever give up. You don’t ever stop. As long as you believe that you are doing the right thing, you won’t be wrong,” said Spc. Robert Love, 22.
“He was proud of his country, proud of the guys he served with,” Love said. “Before we got on the bus, he said, ‘I don’t think I could ask to go with a better group of guys.’ I don’t think he doubted one person here. He believed in us. God, I am gonna miss him. I miss him already. But we are going to wake up, put our boots on and do what we came here to do. Old Charlie Mike, as they say. Continue Mission.”
Read more: Dianna Cahn reports in Stars and Stripes

An Army carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of 1st Sgt. John D. Blair to a transfer vehicle Monday, June 22, 2009 at Dover Air Force Base, Del. According to the Department of Defense, Blair, of Calhoun, Ga., was killed while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. (AP Photo/Steve Ruark)