Remembering the Life and Memory of...
Pfc. LeRoy DeRonde III
A photo of Pfc. Leroy Deronde III from his Facebook page.
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Hometown: Jersey City, New Jersey. Age: 22 years old. Died: May 27, 2012 in Operation Enduring Freedom. Unit: Assigned to 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. Birth: Jul. 18, 1989
Death: May 27, 2012, Afghanistan Pfc. Leroy Deronde III, 22, Jersey City, New Jersey died May 27, in Chak-E Warkdak District, Afghanistan, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. He was assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss Texas. PFC LeRoy DeRonde , III, of Jersey City was killed in action in the Wardack District, central Afghanistan on Sunday, May 27, 2012. He was 22. Born and raised in Jersey City, LeRoy served in the US Army where he was assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas. LeRoy was predeceased by his beloved mother, Elizabeth "Littie" (nee Owen) DeRonde in 2005. He is survived by his father, LeRoy DeRonde, Jr.; his sister, Jennifer DeRonde; brother Harold DeRonde and a host of loving aunts, uncles, cousins and friends that are too numerous to mention. Visitation will be on Thursday and Friday, June 7th and 8th, from 5-9p at McLaughlin Funeral Home, 625 Pavonia Avenue, Jersey City . Interment will be at the 911/Veterans Memorial Section of Holy Cross Cemetery, North Arlington, NJ on Saturday at 11am. In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the WOUNDED WARRIORS PROJECT, P.O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675 in support of the thousands of wounded warriors and their families as they return home. Burial: Holy Cross Cemetery North Arlington Bergen County New Jersey, USA_ 
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2012/06/gov_christie_releases_statemen.html
Gov. Christie issued a statement this morning expressing his condolences on the death of Pfc. Leroy DeRonde III, the Jersey City soldier who was killed in Afghanistan on May 27. The Defense Department identified DeRonde late Saturday afternoon as one of the two soldiers killed during an enemy attack on their unit. "I was saddened to learn of Pfc. DeRonde’s death last week while supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan,'' Christie said in his statement. "It is a terrible tragedy to lose such a young man in service to our state and country. On behalf of the State of New Jersey, Mary Pat and I extend our deepest condolences and sympathies to Pfc. DeRonde’s family. Our thoughts and prayers are with them during this difficult time.'' The governor's office is in the process of issuing an Executive Order to lower state flags to half-staff in honor of DeRonde’s service and sacrifice, officials said. DeRonde, 22, joined the Army in January 2011. After basic training, DeRonde’s family told the Star-Ledger, they saw him off at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. — as one of a handful of graduates to have been immediately promoted to a Private E2. "He’d been so quiet, but he knew everyone, they knew his name," his half-sister, Jennifer Owen, told the paper. "In six months, he really came out of his shell." |
EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 96
WHEREAS, United States Army Private First Class Leroy DeRonde III grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey;
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde entered the United States Army in January 2011; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was assigned to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was an honorable and courageous young man who loved his country and the military; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde tragically lost his life in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, while supporting
Operation Enduring Freedom; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was a dedicated soldier as well as a loving son and brother, whose memory lives in the hearts of his family, friends, and fellow soldiers; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde’s heroism, patriotism, and service to his country and his fellow soldiers make it appropriate and fitting for the State of New Jersey to remember him and his family, to mark his passing, and to honor his memory;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRIS CHRISTIE, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The flag of the United States of America and the flag of
New Jersey shall be flown at half-staff at all State
departments, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities during
appropriate hours on Friday, June 8, 2012, in recognition and
mourning of a brave and loyal American hero, United States Army Private First Class Leroy DeRonde III.
2. This Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN, under my hand and seal this 6th day of June, Two Thousand and Twelve, and of the Independence of the United States, the Two Hundred and Thirty-Sixth.
/s/Chris Christie
Governor
WHEREAS, United States Army Private First Class Leroy DeRonde III grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey;
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde entered the United States Army in January 2011; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was assigned to F Company, 125th Brigade Support Battalion attached to 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, Texas; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was an honorable and courageous young man who loved his country and the military; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde tragically lost his life in Chak-E Wardak District, Afghanistan, while supporting
Operation Enduring Freedom; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde was a dedicated soldier as well as a loving son and brother, whose memory lives in the hearts of his family, friends, and fellow soldiers; and
WHEREAS, Private First Class DeRonde’s heroism, patriotism, and service to his country and his fellow soldiers make it appropriate and fitting for the State of New Jersey to remember him and his family, to mark his passing, and to honor his memory;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, CHRIS CHRISTIE, Governor of the State of New Jersey, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and by the Statutes of this State, do hereby ORDER and DIRECT:
1. The flag of the United States of America and the flag of
New Jersey shall be flown at half-staff at all State
departments, offices, agencies, and instrumentalities during
appropriate hours on Friday, June 8, 2012, in recognition and
mourning of a brave and loyal American hero, United States Army Private First Class Leroy DeRonde III.
2. This Order shall take effect immediately.
GIVEN, under my hand and seal this 6th day of June, Two Thousand and Twelve, and of the Independence of the United States, the Two Hundred and Thirty-Sixth.
/s/Chris Christie
Governor
By Julia Terruso and Richard Khavkine/The Star-Ledger JERSEY CITY .
Army Pfc. LeRoy DeRonde III was coming into his own, distancing himself from a hard-luck childhood and stepping up to take care of his family. The 22-year-old Jersey City man saw the military as a way to do that, his family said, in a plan that began to form eight years ago when his mother, Elizabeth, died of cancer. Her absence shook the family’s foundation and then profoundly galvanized her eldest son. "He realized he was going to put the family on his shoulders. The military was his calling to do that financially," DeRonde’s cousin, Jason Owen, said last night outside the soldier’s family’s apartment on West Side Avenue. "From the time he decided that it was full steam ahead." But DeRonde was one of two soldiers killed on May 27 when their unit was attacked in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said today. DeRonde, assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss Texas, died in the Wardak District in central Afghanistan. DeRonde is at least the 44th service member with ties to New Jersey to be killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. An additional 102 service members from New Jersey have died in Iraq since 2003.
"His life didn’t take hold until he was 22," said Owen, who noted DeRonde sent monthly checks home. "He was really taking the reins, he was ascending. The real tragedy here is from an upbringing that wasn’t so good he was working ... to help his family and to better himself."
DeRonde was born and raised in the city’s Bergen neighborhood. As a child, he kept mostly to himself. His father, Leroy DeRonde Jr., said he loved playing PlayStation 3 with his brother, Harold, who is now 17. "The two were inseparable," DeRonde’s father said. He added that since his son’s deployment a year ago, they would talk using the online video chat service Skype. "If he wasn’t on, my hands would shake," he said. "It’s a terrible thing." Through the years, and in DeRonde’s short life, the tight-knit family has known both the fear of loss and tragedy.
At 5, Harold was diagnosed with leukemia and given three weeks to live. The family went to Disney World on a Make-A-Wish vacation. It was the only real vacation they ever took together, Leroy DeRonde Jr. said. By luck, Harold survived. But when their mother died, DeRonde made a plan that required groundwork. He got his GED and then 15 college credits, both of which were required before he could join the Army, which he did in January 2011. DeRonde, his family said, was kind of person who, when he figured out where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, nothing could stop him. After basic training, DeRonde’s family saw him off at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. — as one of a handful of graduates to have been immediately promoted to a Private E2. "He’d been so quiet, but he knew everyone, they knew his name," his half-sister, Jennifer Owen, said. "In six months, he really came out of his shell." Funeral arrangements are pending.
Read more: http://sgt-jim.blogspot.com/2012/06/rip-pfc-leroy-deronde-iii.html
Army Pfc. LeRoy DeRonde III was coming into his own, distancing himself from a hard-luck childhood and stepping up to take care of his family. The 22-year-old Jersey City man saw the military as a way to do that, his family said, in a plan that began to form eight years ago when his mother, Elizabeth, died of cancer. Her absence shook the family’s foundation and then profoundly galvanized her eldest son. "He realized he was going to put the family on his shoulders. The military was his calling to do that financially," DeRonde’s cousin, Jason Owen, said last night outside the soldier’s family’s apartment on West Side Avenue. "From the time he decided that it was full steam ahead." But DeRonde was one of two soldiers killed on May 27 when their unit was attacked in Afghanistan, the Department of Defense said today. DeRonde, assigned to the 125th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss Texas, died in the Wardak District in central Afghanistan. DeRonde is at least the 44th service member with ties to New Jersey to be killed in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. An additional 102 service members from New Jersey have died in Iraq since 2003.
"His life didn’t take hold until he was 22," said Owen, who noted DeRonde sent monthly checks home. "He was really taking the reins, he was ascending. The real tragedy here is from an upbringing that wasn’t so good he was working ... to help his family and to better himself."
DeRonde was born and raised in the city’s Bergen neighborhood. As a child, he kept mostly to himself. His father, Leroy DeRonde Jr., said he loved playing PlayStation 3 with his brother, Harold, who is now 17. "The two were inseparable," DeRonde’s father said. He added that since his son’s deployment a year ago, they would talk using the online video chat service Skype. "If he wasn’t on, my hands would shake," he said. "It’s a terrible thing." Through the years, and in DeRonde’s short life, the tight-knit family has known both the fear of loss and tragedy.
At 5, Harold was diagnosed with leukemia and given three weeks to live. The family went to Disney World on a Make-A-Wish vacation. It was the only real vacation they ever took together, Leroy DeRonde Jr. said. By luck, Harold survived. But when their mother died, DeRonde made a plan that required groundwork. He got his GED and then 15 college credits, both of which were required before he could join the Army, which he did in January 2011. DeRonde, his family said, was kind of person who, when he figured out where he wanted to go and what he wanted to do, nothing could stop him. After basic training, DeRonde’s family saw him off at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. — as one of a handful of graduates to have been immediately promoted to a Private E2. "He’d been so quiet, but he knew everyone, they knew his name," his half-sister, Jennifer Owen, said. "In six months, he really came out of his shell." Funeral arrangements are pending.
Read more: http://sgt-jim.blogspot.com/2012/06/rip-pfc-leroy-deronde-iii.html
Lauren Casselberry/The Jersey Journal