11/15/2025
RIP brother
ON THIS DAY WE REMEMBER: Sgt. Derek R. Banks, 24, of Newport News, Virginia, died Nov. 14, 2007, in San Antonio, Texas, of wounds suffered Oct. 25, 2007, in Baghdad, Iraq, when the vehicle he was in struck an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the Virginia National Guard’s West Point-based 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command.
The same IED strike killed Sgt. David E. Lambert, 39, of Cedar Bluff, Virginia.
Three other Soldiers were seriously wounded in the attack:
Sgt. James "Andy" Corbett of Poquoson; and Pfc. Eric T. Holt and Spc. Joshua G. Primm, both of Williamsburg.
Read more:
Department of Defense Release No. 1319-07, November 15, 2007
https://archive.defense.gov/Releases/Release.aspx?ReleaseID=11490
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 373
Celebrating the life of Sergeant Derek Ramond Banks.
https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?081+ful+HJ373ER
Soldier dies from Iraq injuries (The Daily Press)
Sgt. Derek R. "Bam" Banks was voted "most popular" during his senior year in 2001 at Bethel High School, where he played on the football and basketball teams.
"He's one of those guys that you notice," said Ernest Bethel, who was in Banks' class in high school and managed the basketball team. "He was a people person. He wanted to get people involved in what he was doing. I'm devastated for the family. I'll keep them in my prayers."
Banks, 24, died Wednesday as a result of injuries from a roadside bomb on Oct. 25 in Baghdad, Iraq. He was flown to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany and later to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.
Banks was a combat engineer of the Virginia Army National Guard's 237th Engineer Company. The roadside explosive also killed Spc. David E. Lambert of Cedar Bluff in western Virginia and injured three other soldiers from Hampton Roads: Sgt. James "Andy" Corbett of Poquoson; and Pfc. Eric T. Holt and Spc. Joshua G. Primm, both of Williamsburg.
Read more:
http://www.dailypress.com/dp-iraq-derek-r-bam-banks-2-story.html
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House of Delegates resolution honors fallen Virginia Guard Soldier - April 21, 2008
WEST POINT, Va. -- Family and friends of a fallen Virginia National Guard Soldier gathered in West Point,Va. April 21 to honor his memory with a resolution from the Virginia House of Delegates. The Honorable Phillip A. Hamilton, Delegate of the 93rd District representing the City of Newport News and County of James City, presented the widow and mother of Sgt. Derek R. Banks with the resolution during a ceremony at the West Point High School Auditorium.
Read more:
http://go.usa.gov/c4bWJ
Read the full resolution:
http://go.usa.gov/c4bZe
