Springfield man -- Guardsman and former Marine -- killed in Iraq

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A Springfield man who had moved to Arkansas to join the National Guard was killed this week in Iraq, Rep. Roy Blunt said Thursday.

Jeremy W. McHalffey, 28, was one of three Arkansas National Guardsmen killed Tuesday when their humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in the al-Shaab district of Baghdad. They were with the 2nd Platoon of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion of Arkansas' 39th Infantry Brigade. They had been roommates at the company's base at Camp Gunslinger.

McHalffey, a gunner, was a 1995 graduate of Springfield's Central High School. He served for years in the Marine Corps and worked for the Greene County Sheriff's office.

His brother, Mike, told Blunt that Jeremy wanted to go to Iraq. He wanted to re-enlist in the Marines but was told it would take months, so he chose to move to Arkansas and join the National Guard.

He deployed to Iraq in April.

Jeremy's father, Ricky McHalffey; his brother, Mike; and his fiancee, Lacy Tindele, all live in Springfield. His mother, Sherry Bone, lives in Virginia Beach, Va.

The other soldiers killed were Spc. Joshua Marcum of Evening Shade, Ark., and Cpl. Jimmy Buie of Floral, Ark.