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Soldier returns from war to bury brother
Published December 2, 2009
SOCIAL CIRCLE — With her son, Sgt. Jermaine Webb, serving in Afghanistan, Targie McGuire lived with the fear something could happen to her son at any time.
When tragedy struck, however, it was from an entirely different quarter.
Webb’s older brother, James David Webb III, 25, was killed Nov. 22 in a traffic accident that has left the entire family grieving.
The elder Webb was traveling along Interstate 20 toward Social Circle between 3 and 4 a.m. when his truck stalled out and he was pulled off to the side of the road. Stranded along the highway, Webb attempted to flag down a passing car but in the dark, stepped out too far into the road. The driver was unable to stop his vehicle and struck Webb.
Although the driver of the passing car stopped and called 911, Webb’s injuries were too great and he died before emergency help could arrive.
“It was just a freak accident,” said McGuire, Webb’s mother. “The driver stopped and called 911. He held my boy’s hand until he took his last breath.”
The death of “Big Boy,” as the family often called him, hit everyone hard, but McGuire said one of the hardest parts was contacting Jermaine Webb in Afghanistan to let him know the news.
“He didn’t take it well at all,” McGuire said. “That’s his big brother. He was very hurt.”
With the funeral planned for Nov. 28 and Jermaine Webb still with his unit overseas, the American Red Cross stepped in to help. The organization flew Webb home, getting the soldier to Monroe one day before the funeral was to be held.
“That was real good,” McGuire said.
The funeral itself, held in Greater Moses Baptist Church in Rutledge, was packed with more than 250 people coming to pay respects to Big Boy.
“It was a good ceremony,” McGuire said. “But I’m still coming to terms with it all myself. It’s just really sad.”
Webb, who will be returning to his unit soon, said although he was trained in the military on how to handle loss and grief, it hit so much harder when the death was his own brother.
“If it weren’t for my brother, I wouldn’t be the man I am today,” Webb said. “It’s hard right now to deal with it.”
McGuire is now looking to move on. She’s still recovering from her own traffic accident last year, a motorcycle wreck that almost took off her left leg, and as her younger son heads back overseas, the worry for him sets in again. But for now, she’s just striving to remember her son.
“We’re all taking it as well as we can,” McGuire said. “But it’s just hard.”
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