The Baxter Bulletin ~ July 7, 2010

A 20-year-old soldier from Harrison died in Afghanistan when his unit was attacked on the Fourth of July, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

An Army carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains of Army Specialist Clayton D. McGarrah of Harrison upon the arrival of his body at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, on Tuesday.

Private First Class Clayton Dwayne McGarrah was killed at Arghandab, Afghanistan, during an attack by insurgents using an improvised explosive device and rocket-propelled grenades, reported the Defense Department on Tuesday. McGarrah, who would have been married two months today, reportedly had been in Afghanistan about a month. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, N.C. "Clayton D. McGarrah was a bright young man with a promising future in the Army," Capt. David Christmas, McGarrah's commander, told WRAL-TV at Raleigh, N.C. "He had not been with us more than a week, but was already stepping up as a rifleman to the demanding task in a harsh combat environment." The son of Bo and Missy McGarrah, he was a 2006 graduate of Harrison High School. According to his Facebook page, McGarrah had worked for Ozark Roofing Inc. and entered the U.S. Army in last September. Prior to being assigned to Fort Bragg, he'd been stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. where he trained for the 82nd Airborne. He married Emily O'Brien May 7.