05/23/2026
18 years ago, PFC George J. Howell was killed in Iraq.
Basic Training at Fort Benning forged friendships that time does not erase. Young infantrymen — exhausted, dirty, convinced they were untouchable — believed there would always be more time ahead.
There wasn’t.
On December 21, 2007, while serving with 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, PFC Howell was killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle outside Riyadh, Iraq. He was 24 years old.
He left behind a wife, a daughter, a son, family, and friends who still remember him.
War freezes some people in time while the rest of the world keeps moving without them.
This Memorial Day weekend, remember what this day is about.
Not sales.
Not politics.
Not vacations.
Remembrance.
Remember the men and women who never came home. Remember the families forced to continue without them. Remember the sacrifices that never made headlines but changed lives forever.
Visit a National Cemetery. Visit a VA hospital. Read the names. Learn the stories.
And for the veterans still here: stay alive. The world has already buried enough soldiers.
PFC George J. Howell
24 years old
KIA — December 21, 2007
1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment
1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Gone, but remembered.
