Community Mourns Loss Of Soldier

The stark reality of the ongoing military missions in Iraq hit home this week with the death of United States Army Specialist Jonathan David Arthur "J.D." Emard.

Emard, 20, was a resident of Poetry and graduated from Boles High School in 2005.

Todd Wallace, the athletic director at Boles High School and Emard’s football coach there, said Emard was in his office visiting just before the end of the school year in late May.

"It was shocking because he had been in on leave just right before the end of school," Wallace said. "They had a big reception for him, and his mom brought him up.

"I didn’t even realize he had time to go back (to Iraq), though I knew he was going back," he said.

Emard had transferred to Boles in the eighth grade, Wallace said, left for Quinlan Ford High School his freshman year but then transferred again to Boles.

"I took him as a pet project as coaches do sometimes," Wallace said about his first meeting with Emard. "We got pretty close…he was a very personable kid. I loved him and he got along with really everybody."

Emard played varsity football as an 11th-grader, Wallace said, but graduated early.

"He was a good athlete, and in junior high and JV, he dominated a lot of that," Wallace said, adding that Emard started at outside linebacker, also played at running back and was a good placekicker for the Hornets.

A motorcade for Emard took place Thursday morning from Majors Field in Greenville to Anderson-Clayton Brothers Funeral Home in Terrell.

Visitation at the funeral home was scheduled to take place Thursday evening from 4-8 p.m. with funeral services set for Friday at 11 a.m. at Lake Pointe Church in Rockwall.

He joined the U.S. Army as a 17-year-old and was an Airborne Ranger with the I-87 Infantry Battalion 10th Mountain Division.

Emard was killed in action on June 4 near Kirkuk, Iraq.