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(Photo: AP/Addison Family)
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Army Spc. Jamaal R. Addison, 22, of Roswell, Ga., was killed in action in Iraq. His unit, the Army's 507th Maintenance Company, wasn't expected to see combat, but it was ambushed by Iraqi forces March 23, 2003.
Two days before the war began, Addison spoke with his mother and relatives in Covington, Ga.
"He didn't want to get off the telephone, he just wanted to hold on to that conversation as long as possible," said family pastor, the Rev. Julius Kidd.
Relatives fondly described Addison as the family's computer guru. His enlistment in the military came as a surprise to his ROTC instructors
at Lakeside High School in Atlanta, where he graduated in 1998.
"I had no idea he was going into the Army," said Lt. Col. Sydney Sider, 58, a senior Air Force ROTC instructor at Lakeside High. "The last talk we had was that he was going to college."
But Sider added that Addison had the strength and character to be successful in the military.
"He was a very nice young man ... and a very good student," Sider said. "He was good in ROTC. I just wish I had him a little longer."
Kevin Addison of Decatur, said he had been notified by military authorities of his son's death. He declined to say more.
Sharon Addison, who was married to Addison's father for eight years and helped raise his son, said the young man was a joy.
"He had a very gentle spirit. He grew up in the church. He always looked out for his (two) sisters. Jamaal was one of the sweetest young men I've known," she said.
Addison is survived by his wife, a 2-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter.
U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said March 26 that the 507th Maintenance Company ran into a heavily armed Iraqi combat unit that included two tanks and automatic weapons when it made the wrong turn near An Nasiriyah.
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