PFC John W. Dearing who lost his life 14 years ago

Today we remember PFC John W. Dearing who lost his life 14 years ago.  His uniform, donated artifacts and story is on display in our Global War on Terror gallery.  His display, and the displays of 140 other military and space heroes from the state of Michigan can be seen 10am-5pm daily at the Michigan Heroes Museum in Frankenmuth.  Honor.  Respect.  Remember.

Private First Class John W. Dearing

U.S. Army

Hazel Park, Michigan John Dearing grew up in Oscoda, Michigan, and attended high school there before moving to Hazel Park. He graduated in 2003 from Oscoda High School after signing up for the National Guard a year earlier as a junior. When he graduated from basic training, the family had a large party for him in Hazel Park. John was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 125th Infantry Regiment (2 MEF), Saginaw, Michigan. His first duty station was in Egypt where he met up with his guard unit and returned with this unit to Saginaw, Michigan. He then volunteered for deployment to Iraq. John met, and two months later, married 19 year old Amanda on June 11, 2005, when he was not yet 21 years old. Just two weeks after getting married and renting a home in Hazel Park, J.W., as the family called him, was deployed to Iraq. On September 10th he celebrated his 21st birthday with his fellow soldiers, thousands of mile from home. The family had no idea that just two months later they would be making his funeral arrangements. “I think we all thought he would have no problem over there; he’d do his job and come home. We really didn’t think about him getting hurt,” his grandmother Mary Dearing, said, realizing that J.W.’s positive attitude prevented them from worrying. “He’d been shot in the arm a month prior to this and we were not told about it. He e-mailed someone and said he didn’t want the rest of the family to know because he didn’t want us to worry.” It was in this action on August 10, 2005, that J.W. was awarded the Army Commendation Medal because “with your assistance, 2 bomb markers and 2 RPG triggermen were removed from the population of Khalidiyah, Iraq.” The National Guard reported that on November 21, 2005, at Habbaniyah, Iraq, Private First Class John Dearing was killed instantly when an improvised explosive device, or land mine, was detonated near the Humvee that he and four other soldiers were in. The other four survived, but with serious burns. John was the Humvee’s gunner and was riding on the top in the last of four Humvees that were serving as security for military engineers. The first three trucks made it past the mine; his hit it. John was buried with full military honors at the Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly Township, Michigan.