Rodney Murray

By Amanda Manning

AYDEN  —  Pictures of Sgt. Rodney A. Murray adorned the mantle, floor and hearts of family and friends at the Wayne Loftin residence this past weekend as a life recently taken in Iraq was remembered.

Rodney was killed last Sunday —  on Mother’s Day — in a vehicle accident between Baghdad and Scania when his Humvee was sideswiped by a passing tank.

Rodney joined the Army Reserves in July of 2000 to earn extra money to pay for college and was called to Iraq on February 11, 2003. The decision to join the Army Reserves was something Rodney and his wife, Amanda, discussed and decided on together, a hint of the kind of relationship they shared.

Amanda remembers clearly the day Rodney was called and says they spent the next three days trying to get Rodney packed and ready to leave. The couple was able to spend one full day together before Rodney left on February 14. He was able to teach at Ayden-Grifton High School for just two days, two days which left  students and staff alike with a lasting first impression.

It was ten months later when Amanda saw Rodney again, on December 16, just in time to celebrate their three-year wedding anniversary. Rodney left again on December 30, making it the last time family and friends saw the young soldier again.

Rodney was remembered by his family and closest friends as a great man with a big heart and to Amanda, that says a lot about the kind of man she married.

“It didn’t take this to know what kind of husband I had, which, I guess makes it harder.” Amanda said. “It shows everybody what kind of man I had for a husband.”

To Amanda, Rodney was not only her husband but also her best friend, something that makes her loss more painful to bear. The hardest part of Rodney’s recent death, according to Amanda, is accepting the fact her husband will never come home.

“The hardest part, I guess, is he’s never coming home to me,” Amanda said. “He’s never coming back. He was my best friend and he can’t ever be replaced.”

Amanda says she and Rodney’s parents, Jack and Stella Murray, have become a lot closer because, for now, it’s the closest she can get to Rodney. Jack and Stella feel the same and say they will continue to think of Amanda as their daughter

“We just got to be there for each other and get through this,” Amanda said.

“Even though he’s gone, we’ve still got our daughter,” Stella said. “We’re glad he brought Amanda to our life.”  

Amanda’s parents, Barbara and Wayne Loftin, share in the grief their daughter is feeling, having been introduced to a son-in-law they took in with open arms as one of their own.

“Even though he was not my son, he was my son,” Barbara said.

Amanda says although this experience has been hard on her, the support of the community has been amazing and she couldn’t ask for a better community to call home.

Amanda says she has received flowers and letters from all over, from strangers who have also lost loved ones in wars, from as far as Nebraska to as close as her hometown of Ayden.  

Amanda says the support has been overwhelming and she is appreciative of all the cards, flowers and prayers people have given to both her and her family.

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