Boise, Idaho News, Weather and Traffic - KTRV Fox 12 - Sgt. Holtom laid to rest
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Boise, Idaho -- A final goodbye was said Monday to Sgt. Jim Holtom, laid to rest after being killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq earlier this month.
Holtom was 22 years old, but friends say he was respected well beyond his years.
"Jim was always a soldier," said Staff Sgt. Robert Bond of his friend during Holtom's funeral services Monday at the Treasure Valley Baptist Church in Meridian.
In fact, friends like Bond say Holtom was such a soldier, that he was able to move up the ranks in the Army Reserves rather quickly -- becoming sergeant at just 21, where he instantly gained the respect of the people he worked with and even mentored.
"He'd often times give them advice, square them away on their uniforms, tell them where to be, and how to act. A lot of times people didn't even have to listen to him, they could just see how he was and just follow his example," Bond explained.
That was in 2003, a time when many knew Holtom was likely to one day, go to war.
Then in September of 2006, Jim Holtom was deployed.
"When he told me when he left, I says Jim where you going? He said Ramadi, and he said it in such a way that I knew he was concerned," said David Holtom, Jim Holtom's father.
On Feb. 8, Holtom was killed by a roadside bomb, but it was his work while he was there that has made his family proud -- knowing that he was successful and worked hard at his job.
And of course nothing less was expected of him. Fiance Melissa Sewell says that's the same kind of man he was at home.
"I love that he wore Carharts, had dirt under his fingernails, and smelled like dirt -- not all the time of course. But it just proved to me that he was capable of making a living and wasn't afraid at doing so. I think he cleaned up nice though," said Sewell.
Jim and Mel had planned on marrying . Not long ago they were looking at rings. In fact, he'd already bought a home in preparation for the event. Just a few of the things that Sewell now thinks of as she remembers the man she planned to marry.
"And then we had to say goodbye, and that was such a hard thing to do. And nothing was said on the whole drive to the airport, except for a bunch of 'I love yous' and 'I'm going to miss you so much,'" said Sewell. "I was well aware of the fact that it may have been the last time I saw my man. I just didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to welcome him home in a casket, but God had other plans."
Holtom is survived by his parents, five brothers, and two sisters.
He was buried Monday at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery with full military honors.
Holtom was killed along with two other Idaho soldiers in Iraq -- Pfc Raymond Werner and Sgt. Ross Clevenger. Clevenger was laid to rest over the weekend.
Werner will be remembered Friday at 10 a.m. at the Cloverdale Church of God. Internment will follow at 12:30 p.m. at the Idaho State Veterans Cemetery.
