Jason Walter Vaughn

Sgt. Jason Walter Vaughn, Iuka, Mississippi

The celebration for the life of Sgt. Jason Walter Vaughn will begin Friday, May 18, 2007, with visitation of family and friends from 6 - 9 p.m. at the Gospel Lighthouse Pentecostal Church on Highway 25 in Tishomingo, MS. Visitation will continue on Saturday from 11:00 a.m. until service time. Funeral services will be Saturday, May 19, 2007, at 1:00 p.m. at the church with Rev. W. H. (Bill) Burcham officiating. Interment will follow in Oak Grove Cemetery in Iuka, MS, with full military honors. Pallbearers will include service members of the U.S. Army, and honorary pallbearers will include J. C. Cuadra, Casey Morrid, Justin Parsons, Jeremy Ledlow, Jason Cole, and Randy Laird. Cutshall Funeral Home of luka, MS, is entrusted with the arrangements.

Sgt. Jason Vaughn departed this life May 10, 2007, in Baqubah, Iraq, when an improvised explosive device detonated under his vehicle. He was 29 years of age. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, in Fort Lewis, WA. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq with the original Stryker Brigade in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Jason was a personable young man. Never meeting a stranger, he remained staunchly loyal to his friends.

Born on October 31, 1977, in Memphis, Shelby County, TN, Sgt. Jason Walter Vaughn is the son of Walter Glenn Vaughn and Llalanda RaNae (Smith) Vaughn. At 15 months of age, Jason and his family settled in Bolivia, South America, where he lived until he was almost 5 years old. Relocating to Colbert County, AL, Jason and his family lived there until 1990 when they moved to his father's hometown of luka, MS. Jason graduated from the Tishomingo County High School in luka in 1996.

After high school graduation, Jason attended Northeast Mississippi Community College in Booneville, and Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi. He joined the U.S. Army in 2003 and was sent to Ft. Benning, GA, for Basic and Advanced Infantry Training (AIT). After training, Jason was assigned to the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, at Ft. Lewis, WA, near Tacoma. The brigade was the first to go to war with the Army's new Stryker wheeled infantry carriers. It was also the first to be built around a high-tech communications network that officials say gives commanders and troops a better understanding of the battlefield than ever before.

Arriving at Ft. Lewis in October 2003, it was not long before he was shipped out to the conflict in Iraq. The brigade trained in Kuwait for three weeks in November 2003 and then spent about a month in Samarra in operations against insurgents who had taken over the central Iraqi city. In January 2004, the brigade moved up to Mosul, a northern city of 2 million residents, and assumed an area that had previously been occupied by more than 20,000 U.S. troops. At various times, task forces of 800 or more soldiers were sent south for Shiite rebellions and also to provide security on convoy routes in and around Baghdad.

Jason received a much-needed two-week leave in September 2004, and upon arriving home, he and his girlfriend, Contessa (Tess) Williams, quickly married. After returning to the conflict in Iraq and serving out his time there, Jason arrived back at Ft. Lewis, WA, in October 2004. He returned for a second tour of duty in Iraq on June 26, 2006.

Jason is survived by his wife, Contessa W. Vaughn, and step-daughter, Ashley Martin, both of Starkville, MS; his father and step-mother, Walter and Pat Vaughn, of luka; his mother, RaNae Smith Vaughn, of luka; his sister, Karisha V. Devlin and her husband, Dan, of Edina, MO; one brother, Logan M. Vaughn, and his wife, Holly, of luka; and two step-sisters, Candace Smith of luka, and Michel Witt of Southaven. Paternal grandparents are Milford and Vernell Goss Moore of luka, and the late Roy O. Vaughn of Bolivar, TN. Maternal grandparents are Rev. Vondas and Leah Ellis Smith of Southaven, MS. Jason is survived by several aunts and uncles, including: Alisa (Aunt Sissy) Parsons and her husband, Terry, of luka; Vonda Ruth Smith, and her husband, Rev. Howard, of Barcelona, Spain; Debra McCarver and her husband, Rick, of Southaven, MS; LeiRene Perez and her husband, Jorge, of Southaven, MS; and Rev. Marcus Smith and his wife, Barbara, of Cedar Lake, IN. Other survivors include cousins: Brigitte Parsons Lange and husband, Kris, of Nashville, TN; Justin Parsons of luka; MaLeah McCarver Laird and her husband, Randy, of Southaven, MS; Andrea Smith Nutt and her husband, David, of Beaumont, TX; Tanya Harrod and her husband, Rev. Nathan, of Barcelona, Spain; Khrista Smith of Lufkin, TX; Yvonne Perez Thomas and husband, Kendal, of Southaven, MS; Daniel Perez and Dennis Perez, both of Southaven; and Priscilla Smith, Ashley Smith, Claudia Smith, and Audrey Smith, all of ; Lake, IN. He is also survived by a host of other family and friends he loved.

In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that memorial contributions be directed to the American Cancer Society.