McAlester News-Capital, McAlester, OK

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  • Gene Heathcock, of Krebs, stands in the Bache Cemetery Tuesday in front of the headstone of his uncle, Pvt. Alfred Heathcock, who died after his unit was blasted by mustard gas during World War 1. Gene Heathcock earned a Bronze Star for gallantry for his heroic actions during the bloody Korean War battle on Old Baldy, one of the many hills that became battlegrounds during the early 1950s.

    Veteran
November 11, 2010

McAlester area veteran grieves for local soldier killed in Afghanistan

By Leo Kelley Staff Writer

McALESTER — Korean War veteran Gene Heathcock was sad to hear news that an area soldier had been killed in Afghanistan.

“I really feel sad for the family who has lost a son and a father,” he said Wednesday. “With Veterans Day coming up, it really brings into focus that our soldiers are risking their lives, trying to complete the mission they were given.”

Heathcock said his heart goes out to the families of all veterans who have been injured or killed.

Sgt. Jason James McCluskey, 26, of McAlester, died Nov. 4 of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small-arms fire at Zarghun Shahr in the Mohammed Agha district of Afghanistan, the News-Capital reported Wednesday.

McCluskey was born in Stockton, Calif., and moved to McAlester in the mid-1990s, his mother, Delores Oliveras of Lubbock, Texas, said.

He graduated from McAlester High School, and wrestled for the Buffaloes.

Meanwhile, Gene Hathcock and other veterans will honor today those past and present who have served in the Armed Forces. And this year’s event will be even more solemn than usual — McCluskey’s death a poignant reminder of the risks that U.S. soldiers, airmen, Marines and seamen take each day in battle zones.

For more on this story, see Thursday's print edition of the McAlester News-Capital.

Contact Leo Kelley at lkelley@mcalesternews.com.

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