http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/obituaries/stories/DN-osborneob_15met.ART.East.Edition1.2982c41.htmlJerod H. Osborne: Army medic saved lives until the end
06:49 AM CDT on Thursday, July 15, 2010
By JOE SIMNACHER / The Dallas Morning News
jsimnacher@dallasnews.com
The Army trained Spc. Jerod H. Osborne to save lives, and he did.
In May, he was the only medic at the scene when a roadside bomb killed five civilians and critically wounded seven others. He received a Bronze Star for saving the lives of the injured civilians.
On July 5, when his unit was attacked with a similar explosive, his body shielded a lieutenant riding in the front of the vehicle, his family said.
Spc. Osborne, 20, died in the attack in Yakuta, Afghanistan. Spc. Keenan Cooper, 19, of Wahpeton, N.D., also was killed by the blast.
Visitation for Spc. Osborne will be from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Rest Haven Funeral Home in Rockwall. Services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall. He will be buried in Rest Haven Memorial Park.
Spc. Osborne was born in Dallas. He lived with his family in Seattle and Honolulu before returning to Rockwall in June 1996.
He was a good student and participated in the choir program from fourth grade through his graduation from Rockwall-Heath High School in 2008, said his mother, Sharon Grillett of Rockwall.
"He was much loved by the choir program," his mother said.
Spc. Osborne enlisted in the Army in November 2007, the fall before he graduated.
"He knew from early on that he wanted to go into the military," his mother said. He also has a brother, Staff Sgt. Wautash Grillett, a 12-year Army veteran, who is serving in Afghanistan.
After boot camp, Spc. Osborne trained to be a medic at Fort Sam Houston.
"He was tops in his class in medical training and they sent him on to an advance lifesaving course in Virginia, which only a handful of them get to do," said his stepfather, Gary Grillett of Rockwall.
Spc. Osborne was deployed to Afghanistan in August.
"He only had three weeks left, and he would have been home," his mother said.
Once home, Spc. Osborne, who received a Purple Heart, intended to take a road trip around the country in his pickup and go on a backpacking outing with his stepfather.
In addition to his mother, stepfather and brother, Spc. Osborne is survived by his father, Allan Osborne III of Caddo Mills, Texas; a sister, Hayley Grillett of Rockwall; two other brothers, Nako Grillett and Nahtahni Grillett, both of Las Vegas; and his grandparents, Charlotte Henson of Rockwall, Marilyn Osborne of Baltimore and Patricia Burchwell of Dallas.
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