Killed in Action – Operation Enduring Freedom
Geresk, Afghanistan
30 Nov 1978 – 29 Mar 2003
LIFE
- SSgt Jacob L Frazier was assigned to the 169th Air Support Operations Squadron (182d Airlift Wing) in Peoria, Illinois.
- He was sent to Afghanistan in January 2003 to work with U.S. Army Special Forces.
- In just two months, he had participated in three reconnaissance missions to uncover information on people believed to be planning attacks on Americans.
- The missions led to the discovery of numerous documents and personnel.
KIA
- SSgt Frazier was killed by suspected former Taliban during an ambush on his reconnaissance convoy at Geresk, in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
- He was part of a special operations team that was inspecting a school and hospital being built with American funding.
- He and a Special Forces soldier were shot to death when four gunmen ambushed their convoy on motorcycles.
- SSgt Frazier was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star Medal and the Purple Heart Medal.
- He was survived by Jim Frazier(father), Joyce Frazier (mother), Daniel (Brother), Zachary (Brother), Jessica (Sister) and Kathryn (Sister).
SPEECH
Speech written by Army Maj (Ret) Ken Allison and read at Fort Hood announcing the 2017/2018 ACC Jake Frazier JTAC Award Winners. Maj Allison, who was a TACP TSgt at the time of Jake Frazier’s death, was Jake’s teammate at the 169 ASOS in Peoria.
Jake in my opinion embodied what it is to be a 1C4 in all material respects. He was brash, charismatic, fearless, hilarious, daring and always at the center of virtually any group he was affiliated. Like most of us that found ourselves in the TACP community, he loved the identity of being a TACP. Leading up to the deployment in 2003, I spent countless days, nights and weeks on various CAS trips getting ready for the Deployment, basically from December 2001 through December 2002, the group of 16 that deployed with Jake were constantly together. That said, if I had to articulate who Jake was, here are some bullet points to share.
- He Embodied the profession of arms
- He was a student of the TACP Profession
- He had endless energy and capacity to lean into a problem
- He was a Natural born leader
- He was Empathetic in all of his actions
- He was Committed to the team and his brothers in arms
- He was Tenacious in the purest form
- He Always put the mission first, and fully demonstrated service before self
- He was Always ready, mentally, physically, emotionally and could be counted on to get the job done
- He was Charismatic and truly a brother to us all.
