Oklahoma Family Mourns Death Of A Soldier

On Monday, U.S. Army Sgt. William "B.J." Beardsley of Tahlequah was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb. He's being remembered for his sense of humor and for his love of his family and his country.

Thursday, March 1st 2007, 9:31 am

By: News On 6

On Monday, U.S. Army Sgt. William "B.J." Beardsley of Tahlequah was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb. He's being remembered for his sense of humor and for his love of his family and his country.

News on 6 anchor Craig Day reports his mother is coping as best she can with the sudden and heartbreaking loss.

Lavonna Harper couldn't wait to see her son next month while he was home on leave from Iraq. She wanted to hold him, kiss him and tell him she loved him. Her son, Sgt. B.J. Beardsley was killed Monday in Iraq. "Something's not right in this system, it's not right," Lavonna Harper.

Beardsley was killed by a bomb while traveling in a military convoy near Diwaniyah, Iraq. He would have turned 26 in May. "These young men and women, are over there dying for the country that we're trying to help, and they're the idiots that are blowing up our sons and our daughters. That's the sad part," says Lavonna Harper.

Beardsley was assigned to the 260th Quartermaster Battalion, Third Sustainment Troop Brigade, Third Infantry Division in Fort Stewart, Georgia.

She says her son loved the military, re-enlisting after his first three year term was finished. He loved motorcycles, hunting, but most of all, Lavonna Harper says he loved his children, 4-year-old Chance and 2-year-old Alexis. "Chance would walk around later and say my daddy went to fight the bad guys. Them bad guys killed his daddy. Explain that to a four year old to where he'll understand."

For Beardsley's family, there are so many questions. Why? Why her son? Why their dad? But most of all, there is just heartache, grief, and sadness. "My son was so excited to be going, he wanted to serve his country. And he served his country with his life."

Beardsley moved from Muskogee to Georgia with his mother when he was 5, he returned to Oklahoma when he was 16 and attended high school in Tahlequah.

Funeral services for Beardsley will likely be next week. He'll be buried in Indianapolis, Indiana where his wife and children live.