Bahamian born, Norman B. Darling, was only 29 years old in April 2004, when, as a Private First Class, in the American army, he and seven others were on patrol near Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, Iraq.
Darling was one of tens of thousands of soldiers and military personnel who would serve in the 2003 Iraq War.
The Iraq War began on 19th March 2003 with an air invasion, followed by the 20th March 2003 ground assault. It would technically not end until December 2011.
On 30th April 2004, American news anchor, Ted Koppel, host of ABC’s Nightline, devoted his entire show to reading out the names of 721 of the 737 U.S. troops that had fallen thus far, in Iraq.
The Iraq War, also called Second Persian Gulf War, (March 2003–December 2011) became hugely controversial, after the conventional battle was won so very quickly, March-April 2003; but it would take years, and many lives, to win a fragile peace.
Bahamian Norman Darling was posthumously given American citizenship
Born on 10th December 1974, in Nassau, Bahamas, Norman Darling, joined the American army in 2003. It would be said that Darling’s impetus for joining the army was to give his daughter, in Florida, a better life.
PFC Norman Darling was assigned to 4th Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Armored Division, Baumholder, Germany.
On 29th April 2004, “Darling was one of eight soldiers who died in a suicide bombing in Iraq April 29. He was on patrol in Baghdad April 29th searching for roadside explosives when a vehicle approached his unit. The driver detonated a bomb.”
Years of service 2003 – 2004.
“Darling was one of eight soldiers who died in a suicide bombing in Iraq April 24. He was on patrol in Baghdad April 24, searching for roadside explosives when a vehicle approached his unit. The driver detonated a bomb. “He was a great guy,” said Diane McCarey, a friend who had taken Darling’s mail in Middleboro since he went to Iraq several months ago. “He had a wonderful smile. He was very loveable, gentle, and sincere.” Darling, who joined the Army a year earlier, grew up in the Bahamas. McCarey said he joined the military to provide a better future for his daughter, Camryn, who lives in Florida with her mother. Earlier, he worked as an account administrator for Boston Financial in Quincy. He was posthumously granted US citizenship.” ——https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/9910759/norman-darling#
Private First Class, Norman B. Darling, Bahamian by birth, is buried in the Massachusetts National Cemetery, Section 11 Site 40
Darling was awarded the Purple Heart
