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1LT Colby James Umbrell

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1LT Colby James Umbrell Veteran

Birth
Doylestown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, USA
Death
3 May 2007 (aged 26)
Musayib, Babil, Iraq
Burial
Arlington, Arlington County, Virginia, USA
Plot
Sec 60 Site 8623
Memorial ID
19215745 View Source

1LT US Army
1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Fort Richardson, AK

He played defense on the football team at Central Bucks East High School and was a co-captain his senior year and he continued playing even after he blew out his knee during one of the first few games of the 1998 season. Later that school year, Colby threw shot put and ran the 100-yard dash for the track team. He did it all on one leg because he just wanted to participate and do something. After he graduated from Central Bucks East in 1999, he spent a year at a preparatory school, which his parents lovingly refer to as "grade 13." He went to Johns Hopkins University and received a degree in political science in 2004. He enlisted and was stationed in Alaska for a year before he was deployed. At 245 pounds, he decided he needed to lose weight to be a paratrooper, so he dropped nearly 50 pounds. In Iraq, he made it his mission to help the children. He believed Iraqis would be more accepting of the coalition if the troops helped the children. So he led Kuntzmann and the National Junior Honor Society at Lenape Middle School to collect paper, pencils and pencil sharpeners to send to the kids in Iraq. He came home on leave at the end of March and talked to the students at Lenape about Iraq. And they sent the first shipment of school supplies a few days after he returned to Iraq in April. He was expected to come home again in October 2007. He had planned to re-enlist, go to Temple University for law school and then join the JAG Corps. He had thought about maybe getting into politics. He ran marathons in Chicago, Anchorage and Rome, Italy, as well as participating in a triathlon in Anchorage. He was a swim coach for the Special Olympics and was an inspiration to students here and in Iraq. As the oldest in a family of four children, Colby was a natural born leader. He always helped others, and he always defended the kid on the playground who got picked on. His dream of being in the military is what pushed him to be successful. He fell more in love with the military when he went to West Point for a football camp during his junior year of high school.

1LT US Army
1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, out of Fort Richardson, AK

He played defense on the football team at Central Bucks East High School and was a co-captain his senior year and he continued playing even after he blew out his knee during one of the first few games of the 1998 season. Later that school year, Colby threw shot put and ran the 100-yard dash for the track team. He did it all on one leg because he just wanted to participate and do something. After he graduated from Central Bucks East in 1999, he spent a year at a preparatory school, which his parents lovingly refer to as "grade 13." He went to Johns Hopkins University and received a degree in political science in 2004. He enlisted and was stationed in Alaska for a year before he was deployed. At 245 pounds, he decided he needed to lose weight to be a paratrooper, so he dropped nearly 50 pounds. In Iraq, he made it his mission to help the children. He believed Iraqis would be more accepting of the coalition if the troops helped the children. So he led Kuntzmann and the National Junior Honor Society at Lenape Middle School to collect paper, pencils and pencil sharpeners to send to the kids in Iraq. He came home on leave at the end of March and talked to the students at Lenape about Iraq. And they sent the first shipment of school supplies a few days after he returned to Iraq in April. He was expected to come home again in October 2007. He had planned to re-enlist, go to Temple University for law school and then join the JAG Corps. He had thought about maybe getting into politics. He ran marathons in Chicago, Anchorage and Rome, Italy, as well as participating in a triathlon in Anchorage. He was a swim coach for the Special Olympics and was an inspiration to students here and in Iraq. As the oldest in a family of four children, Colby was a natural born leader. He always helped others, and he always defended the kid on the playground who got picked on. His dream of being in the military is what pushed him to be successful. He fell more in love with the military when he went to West Point for a football camp during his junior year of high school.

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