Rusty Washam
Cpl. Rusty L. Washam (1985-2006) was a Scott County Marine who was killed in action in Iraq on February 14, 2006. He was the first and only Scott Countian to die in Operation Enduring Freedom.
See Also: Scott Countians Killed in War
Early Life
Born February 11, 1985 at Fort Bragg in Cumberland County, N.C., Rusty Washam was the son of Sonny and Beverly Washam, and the youngest member of a family with a lengthy military history.
Sonny Washam was a retired Army Master Sgt. who spent nearly 24 years in the military. Beverly Washam was a member of the Scott County Board of Education.
After graduating from Scott High School in 2003, where he played football for three years, Washam joined the U.S. Marine Corps and served multiple tours of duty in the War on Terror.
Death in Iraq
Washam was killed when his vehicle was struck by a suicide bomber near Al Qa’im, Iraq, on February 14, 2005. His death came just three days after his 21st birthday.
Washam was once of two Marines killed in the attack. Lance Cpl. Matthew Barnes, of West Monroe, La., age 20, also died when the Humvee the men were traveling in was struck near Al Qa’Im, which is in the northern part of Iraq. Both Marines were assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and died instantly in the attack.
Washam’s parents learned of his death as they celebrated Valentines Day with a dinner.
Washam had last spoken to his parents on February 12, two days before his death.
“He wanted to know about his friends back home, and I talked to him about that, and I talked to him about it being his birthday,” his mother, Beverly Washam, said. “I told him to be careful and he said, ‘Mom, things are pretty quiet around here.’ And the last thing he said was, ‘I love you, Mom.'”
Washam was completing his second tour of duty in the war on terrorism, after serving in Afghanistan from May 2004 through December 2004.
Washam’s body was accompanied one with his military brothers, Donnie Washam (U.S. Air Force) and Dustin Washam (U.S. Army) escorting it on a commercial flight.
Community Response
Thousands of Scott Countians turned out to either attend the funeral of Cpl. Rusty Washam or to pay their respects along the route of the funeral procession from Four Oaks Funeral Home in Huntsville to Fairview Missionary Baptist Church.
The church was filled to capacity, with hundreds more mourners outside, where loudspeakers were set up to accommodate the overflow crowd.
Homemade signs lined the parade route in a show of respect to Washam.
“A lot of people are hurting in Scott County right now,” Fairview pastor Michael Ray Jeffers said at Washam’s funeral service. “There is an outpouring of support not only in this community, but in this county, this state and this nation. All the attention, Rusty was worthy of it.”
A large contingent of law enforcement personnel attended the funeral, including representatives of the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, Campbell County Sheriff’s Office, Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, Oneida Police Department, Winfield Police Department, and Clinton Police Department.
Also on hand among first responders were firefighters from the East 63 Volunteer Fire Department, South Scott Volunteer Fire Department, Huntsville Fire Department, Mid-County Volunteer Fire Department, Paint Rock Volunteer Fire Department, Pine Hill Volunteer Fire Department, Winfield Fire Department, Oneida Fire Department, Scott County EMS, Scott County Rescue Squad and the National Park Service.
Two dozen motorcyclists who were a part of the Patriot Guard also attended.
At Fairview Elementary School, where Washam attended class as a child, students released balloons the day before his funeral. Each balloon was attached with a card reading, “In loving memory of Cpl. Rusty Washam, Our Fallen Hero! (Huntsville, Tennessee).”
Beverly Washam said the community support helped the family during a difficult time.
“This whole county has just stood behind us. We really appreciate it,” she said. “They’re the ones who are getting us through this.”
Deborah McKay, one of the members of the Patriot Guard who attended the funeral, was so moved by the outpouring of community support that she penned an op-ed in the Independent Herald.
“I was completely awestruck,” McKay said. “I’ve never, in my entire life, ever seen anything like this. And, believe me, I’ve been to plenty of military funerals since the war in Iraq began. It is a time I will never forget in my life.”
A Military Family
While Sonny Washam was a career military man, several of his sons also joined the armed forces.
Cpl. Rusty Washam’s oldest brother, Donnie Washam, was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force at the time of his brother’s death. A middle brother, Dustin Washam, was a corporal in the U.S. Army. Dustin Washam was wounded in Iraq in July 2005 when he was struck in the foot for friendly fire. Both Donnie and Dustin Washam served in Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Rusty Washam’s decision to join the U.S. Marines after graduation did not surprise his family.
“He talked about being a Marine for a long time,” Beverly Washam said. “The Marines were real tough. If you could survive basic training in the Marines, you could survive anything. He just wanted to do that. He was very proud of what he was doing. He felt like he was making a difference in those people’s lives. It was a job to him, just like anybody, except that his was a little more important. He was a proud Marine. I can remember him at boot camp graduation, and the expression on his face when he graduated basic training. He was just so proud to be a Marine.”
Washam’s uncle, Denny Lee Washam, also served in the U.S. Marines and was killed in action in the Vietnam War on December 8, 1968, while fighting at Meade River in the Quang Nam Province of South Vietnam.
Like Rusty Washam, Denny Washam was 21 when he was killed.
Family
Washam was married to Meagan Washam and had two children: four-year-old Ryan Washam and two-year-old Andrew Washam.