Samuel F. Pearson
Corporal
United States Army Finance Corps
Samuel F. Pearson, the oldest of five children of Randi M. and Carolyn A. (Crist) Pearson, was born on 18 September 1979.
Sam graduated from Piqua (Ohio) High School with the Class of 1998 where he played tight end for the Indians football team. After graduating from high school, he went to Otterbein College were he played football and majored in economics, graduating with the Class of 2003.
After college, Sam worked in the Columbus, Ohio area. Not satisfied, he enlisted in the United States Army Reserves on 7 September 2006, and left for Fort Jackson, South Carolina for his basic training and advanced individual training in the Army’s Finance Corps. Upon graduating from advanced individual training, he was assigned to Detachment 7 of the 376th Financial Management Company in Whitehall, Ohio. He deployed with the unit in late August 2007 for Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq. On 10 October 2007, rockets struck Camp Victory near the Coalition Headquarters. Sam was killed during the attack. Approximately 40 others were wounded, including soldiers from Sam’s unit.
In honor of Sam's sacrifice, the Piqua High School football team wore his number 10 on their helmets for the rest of the season.
Sam's body laid in repose for 25 hours on 17 and 18 October, when hundreds filed past to honor his service to his country. His Celebration of Life took place on 19 October in Saint Paul's Evangelical and Reformed Church with Rev. Frank J. Sapp, Sr. officiating. The throaty rumbles of the Patriot Guard's Harley-Davidsons led Specialist Samuel Pearson's funeral cortege though the streets of Piqua. Along the way schoolchildren, the Piqua High School football team and cheerleaders, family friends, and citizens came to pay their respects lined the 13 blocks to Forest Hill Cemetery.
In addition to his parents, his brothers, Richard E. (Lynsey) Pearson of Worthington, Ohio; John R. Pearson and his fiancé Jamie Seipel; Andrew M. Pearson all of Piqua; a sister, Laura A. Pearson of Chicago; paternal grandfather, Richard E. Pearson of Piqua; maternal grandmother, LaDonna E. Crist of Piqua; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends survive Sam.
Corporal Samuel F. Pearson, United States Army, was buried with full military honors on 19 October 2007, in Piqua's Forest Hill Cemetery.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal,
Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Iraqi Campaign
Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Army
Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal with M
device, and the Combat Action Badge. In addition, his family was presented with
the Distinguished Member of the Regiment medallion by Colonel Billy Smith, U.S.
Army Finance Corps Regimental Commander
On 2 February 2008, Ohio State Representative Diana M. Fessler introduced House Bill 492 to designate a portion of State Route 66 within Miami County as the "Cpl. Samuel F. Pearson Memorial Highway" commencing at the boundary of Shelby and Miami counties and extending in a southeasterly direction to the intersection of that state route and Washington avenue within the city of Piqua. The bill passed and the portion of State Route 66 was dedicated on 25 May 2009.
Source of information:
1. The Columbus Dispatch, 12 October 2007.
2. Dayton Daily News, 12, 17, and 20 October 2007.
3. Piqua Daily Call online, 14 October, 2007.
4. Piqua Daily Call online, 25 May 2009 (http://www.dailycall.com/print.asp?ArticleID=156950&SectionID=86&SubSectionID=164).