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2008 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 344
Celebrating the life of Staff Sergeant Jonathan Kilian Dozier.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 8, 2008
Agreed to by the Senate, February 14, 2008

 

WHEREAS, United States Army Staff Sergeant Jonathan Kilian Dozier, age 30, was killed in the line of duty on January 9, 2008, while valiantly serving his country in combat operations in the Diyala province of Iraq; and

WHEREAS, a Chesapeake native, Jonathan “Jon” Dozier was the son of Martha “Marty” Cabe of Portsmouth and Carl Dozier of Chesapeake and the beloved brother of Jennifer D. Rider; and

WHEREAS, Jon Dozier was immensely proud of his family’s long tradition of military service that extends back to the Civil War and through four generations; his father retired from the Army National Guard as a lieutenant colonel; and

WHEREAS, Jon Dozier joined the United States Army in 1997, left military service to attend Middle Tennessee State University, and then re-enlisted in 2005; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Dozier was the leader of a sniper team that had been searching buildings for insurgents in the Baqouba area of Iraq, and he died, along with five other brave soldiers, when an improvised explosive device went off inside a building they had entered to secure; and

WHEREAS, an experienced and highly skilled soldier, Staff Sergeant Dozier and his fellow team members were assigned to the 3rd Squadron, 2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division based in Vilseck, Germany, which is attached to the 2nd Infantry Division for the Diyala operation; and

WHEREAS, Jon Dozier had been promoted to staff sergeant eight days before he died, and he was planning to build a career in the United States Army with a goal of training for Special Forces; he will be remembered as “a great soldier, one who loved his country and believed in serving his country"; and

WHEREAS, Jon Dozier will be fondly remembered for his devotion to his beautiful 13-month-old daughter, Emma Grace, and greatly missed by his loving family and friends and the citizens of Chesapeake; and

WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Dozier's death is a reminder of the perils faced daily by the thousands of Americans who serve in our armed forces overseas and whose devotion to duty places them in harm's way; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of a courageous and patriotic Virginian, Staff Sergeant Jonathan Kilian Dozier; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of Staff Sergeant Jonathan Kilian Dozier as an expression of the high regard in which his memory is held by the members of the General Assembly and the citizens of Virginia.