Norfolk airman killed in Afghanistan 'wanted to serve'

NORFOLK

Where others finish high school unsure of their futures, William H. Jefferson had no doubts as he graduated from Norfolk’s Lake Taylor in 1991.

He had already selected his life’s path and planned to march down it in a Marine Corps uniform, said his sister, Tammy Davis, 37, of Virginia Beach.

“The whole draw was to serve his country,” Davis said Sunday night. “For the last two years of high school, he knew he wanted to go in the service.”

And he did, making a career of the military that eventually brought him into the Air Force.

On Saturday, he was doing the duty he cherished, serving in Afghanistan when the vehicle he was in hit an improvised explosive device.

The Pentagon announced Sunday that the 34-year-old technical sergeant died from wounds suffered in that blast, near Sperwan Ghar.

Jefferson was assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron based at Pope Air Force Base, N.C.

He was on his third tour in that part of the world, his sister said.

In e-mails home to his family during his deployments, he had said he could see improvement over time.

“He talked about the differences he saw,” Davis said, “that everyone was making things better. He definitely believed that he should be there and that the U.S. was doing the right thing. He fully supported it 100 percent.”

He was to have returned stateside in 30 days, Davis said.

His family was notified of his death on Saturday. They gathered Sunday to begin making plans for services.

And to remember him.

Jefferson had settled on the Marine Corps “because they said he could get into sky diving school and scuba school,” Davis said.

He spent four year in the Corps. But even as he grew into a good warrior, he also realized he wanted to be a good husband, she said.

“He had decided he wanted to marry his high school sweetheart,” Davis said., “but he realized that in the Marine Corps, he was gone way too much.”

Others might have hung up their uniform with such a decision.

Jefferson simply traded his, donning Air Force blues, determined to serve and have a family.

“He’s been in the Air Force 12 years and planned to stay to retirement,” Davis said.

And he had begun looking forward to that, not as an end, but as a the beginning of a different kind of service. He had already earned his bachelors degree.

“He is working – I guess it’s was, now – on his Masters,” Davis said, her voice faltering. “He wanted to teach high school. He was leaning toward history or government.”

She said he had settled on that as his second profession, “because he thought that kids at that age need direction to pick the right path” and not “pick the wrong path.”

Jefferson “just thought he could help kids.”

He and his wife Kristy – the high school sweetheart, from Virginia Beach – would have marked their 15th anniversary in May.

Their second child, a daughter to be named Natalie, also is due in May. Their other daughter, Tyler, turned 8 two weeks ago, Davis said.

The family has been living in Fayetteville, N.C. and Davis said that, early on, they had expected to stay there even after Jefferson left the service.

“But in the last couple of years, they were leaning toward coming back here,” Davis said.

In addition to his sister, his parents still live in Hampton Roads, in Norfolk.

“Everybody loved him,” Davis said. “It didn’t matter who he met, he just attracted people. He had a great sense of humor; just a big kid.”

She said the family has also learned he was respected. They have spoken with other men in his unit who said he was “a mentor, a great leader.”

Asked if there was anything she wanted to add about her brother, Davis’ voice suddenly grew stronger.

“Just tell people how proud we are of him,” Davis said.

“He was doing his job. He was doing what he thought was right,” she said.

“He is actually the all-American boy story; two kids, white picket fence,” she said, “a true hero in every sense of the word.”

Steve Stone, (757) 446-2309, steve.stone@pilotonline.com