Boom3: Clayton G. Dunn, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Clayton G. Dunn, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Bragg, N.C.
2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division
Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: May 26, 2007

Salahuddin, Iraq

Married, 1 child

Gender: Male

Hometown: Moreno Valley
High School: Rialto High (Rialto)

Army Sgt. Clayton G. Dunn II grew up knowing he wanted to be a soldier.

The Moreno Valley native, who was killed May 26 in Iraq, was a second-generation soldier whose father, Roy, served in the Army for 22 years.

"He was brought up that way," said Dunn's wife, Haidy. "Ever since he was little, he would play in his dad's boots and helmet."
That helmet became a part of a memorial, with a white cross, flags and flowers, erected on the lawn of his parents' home.

Dunn, 22, was among three paratroopers who died when a roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad.

Also killed were Spc. Michael J. Jaurigue, 20, of Texas City, Texas, and Spc. Gregory N. Millard, 22, of San Diego.

Dunn deployed to Iraq in August, when his wife was pregnant. The couple would debate baby names during twice-weekly long-distance phone calls.

"One day he just called me on the phone saying, 'I have the name; you can stop searching,' " his wife said. The name was Grace.

Dunn first held his daughter, now 3 months old, during a visit home in April.

"He had a big old smile on his face and he didn't know how to carry her," his wife recalled. "He was carrying her like a football.

"He would say, 'We're not going to spoil her.' And I'd tell him, 'You know she's going to be daddy's little girl.' "

In addition to his wife and daughter, Dunn is survived by his parents, Roy and Aminta Dunn; and a brother, Roy Dunn Jr.