By Jeff Shultz
The war in Iraq finally caught up to Pauls Valley as word came Friday that a 2004 graduate of Pauls Valley High School was one of several causalities Thursday due to a possible suicide bombing.
While no official confirmation has been given by the Department of Defense, family members affirmed Friday that Cpl. Bryan Scripsick was among those killed during the attack in the Al Anbar Province north of Baghdad.
Scripsick, according to family members, was just three weeks away from coming home from Iraq.
Friends of the family said he had called his parents, John and Jan Scripsick, last month on his 22nd birthday and told them he would be coming home from the war sometime in September.
Scripsick enlisted in the United State Marine Corp. in August 2004, four months after graduating from Pauls Valley High School. He was deployed to Iraq in March, 2007.
Scripsick was remembered Friday night with a moment of silence just prior to the opening kick-off at the Pauls Valley Homecoming game.
“He is one of our heroes,” said one Pauls Valley resident. “All of us in Pauls Valley owe him a great debt of gratitude for his service to our country.”
