Sevier News Messenger Sevier County News and Opinion
In honor of a fallen U.S. Marine, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency joined American Eagle Foundation for an American bald eagle release at the foundation’s Eagle Hack Tower on Douglas Lake in Jefferson County.
While traveling through Waynesboro, Va., TWRA Fisheries Technician Gary Loucks visited Jake’s Bar and Grill and met restaurant owner Rhonda Winfield, who told him about her son Jason (nicknamed Jake), who lost his life while serving his country during the war on terror. Marine Lance Corp. Jason C. Redifer, 19, from Stuarts Draft, Va., was killed in action on January 31, 2005 during a mission supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom when the Humvee he was occupying hit an improvised explosive device that was buried in the road in Iraq’s Babil Province. Two other Marines were also killed in the incident. All were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Lejeune, N.C.
According to a news release from the U.S. Dept. of Defense, Redifer had worked three jobs to afford a high school education at Stuart Hall, a private school in Staunton and joined the Marines upon graduating in 2003. The U.S. Marine sniper, who was scheduled to return to the U.S. within nine days, was on his final mission in Iraq when the roadside bomb killed him just south of Baghdad.
After learning about Winfield’s son’s bravery, sacrifice, and contribution to freedom, Gary worked with the foundation’s Education and Asst. Avian Coordinator Karen Wilbur to release a bald eagle in honor of Redifer. The American Eagle Foundation did not hesitate in fulfilling the request and invited Rhonda and her husband Scott to join them for a meal and a tour of its facility in Pigeon Forge. They then visited the foundation’s hack tower on Douglas Lake for a ceremony honoring Redifer that featured a Marine honor guard that folded a U.S. flag and presented it to Rhonda. At the ceremony’s conclusion, Taps was played and the eagle was released upon the final note.
“Rhonda named the eagle ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ which ‘Carries Jason’s memory on its back across the land he loved,'” said Loucks.
According to the foundation, “The AEF’s Hacking program has resulted in the release of 167 young Bald Eagles and 11 Golden Eagles into the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee from 1992 through 2018.”
Photo: TWRA
