SFC Duane A. “Tony” Thornsbury

30, US Army

September 12 marks the passing of SFC Duane A. “Tony” Thornsbury, 30, US Army of Bridgeport WV. He was born April 14th, 1979. We honor and remember him and his late mother Doras Thornsbury.

Tony, a native of Clinton, Md., grew up in Bridgeport, W. Va., enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves April 1996 as a 92Y, Supply Specialist and came onto active-duty service September 2002. He graduated from Grafton (W.Va.) High School, where he was on the wrestling team.

SFC Thornsbury was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colo. He died Sep 12, 2009, in Baghdad of injuries sustained during a vehicle rollover. He was on his third deployment to Iraq. Thornsbury had earned his Green Beret in 2006, becoming a weapons sergeant.

One of Tony’s friends said it wasn’t often you meet a person who will make you stop and think, “there is just something about them.” But “Tony was that guy!” Sgt. James Smith wrote in an online memorial. Other friends recalled Thornsbury in a similar fashion. “He was a go-getter, a no-nonsense type of soldier,” Tony Batts wrote in the same online message board, noting he served with Thornsbury in Iraq from 2003-04. Holly Lane of Winchester, Va., recalled Thornsbury as “a part of our family” when he dated her older sister years ago. “He was the one to teach me how to ride a horse and gave me riding lessons,” Lane wrote online.

SFC Thornsbury is survived by one brother.

Let us always remember him, his family, and...

Say His Name