Boom3: Cody R. Legg, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Cody R. Legg, Army, Sergeant -- Rest In Peace

Cody R. Legg, 23

Army, Sergeant
Based: Ft. Drum, N.Y.

1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry)

Supporting: Operation Iraqi Freedom

Died: June 4, 2008

Tikrit, Iraq

Single

Gender: Male

Hometown: Escondido

High School: San Pasqual High (Escondido)

Burial: Ft. Rosecrans National Cemetery, San Diego

His joy of life, his smile, could light up a room. He just had a zest for life that was contagious.
— Bunnie Jacquay, mother

When it came time to play, Cody Legg had only one game: army.

His mother, Bunnie Jacquay, recalled: "All the kids in the neighborhood would say, 'What do you want to do, Cody?' He'd say, 'Let's play army!' And they'd say, 'Again?' "

Legg was born in Escondido and spent his childhood climbing trees, playing flashlight tag and planning missions. Camouflage and face paint became a uniform he rarely took off. It was no surprise when he enlisted in the Army in his senior year at San Pasqual High School in Escondido.

"Literally, you could find him and walk by him, and he was always in that mode: wanting to be an Army guy," said his father, Dave Legg.

But in April, while home on leave from his second tour in Iraq, Cody Legg spoke hopefully of his post-service plans: to become a firefighter or emergency medical technician, buy a house and start a future with his girlfriend.

On June 4, barely two months later, Army Staff Sgt. Cody Legg, 23, died of wounds suffered when his unit was attacked in Sharqat, about 50 miles from Mosul, Iraq, by forces using small-arms fire and hand grenades.

Legg had been assigned to the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) at Ft. Drum, N.Y. He was one of three soldiers killed in the attack.
...
Also killed were Sgt. Shane P. Duffy and Spc. Jonathan D. A. Emard.
...
Legg had been trying to save two soldiers in his unit. Jacquay recounted how Army officials described Legg's efforts to her: "He yelled, 'Man down! Man down! I'm going in,' and just took off to try to get them out of harm's way."
...

Jacquay said her son loved simple pleasures.

"The first thing he said when he came home in April on leave was, 'I want a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a hot shower,' " she said, laughing. "He was a real down-to-earth guy."

Legg was buried at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. In addition to his parents, he is survived by a large extended family: two half-brothers, D.C. and Derek Legg; two stepbrothers; a stepfather; and a stepmother.
Read the entire LA Times story about Army Sergeant Cody R. Legg here. Visit Sergeant Cody R. Legg's Guest Book.