MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2010 2nd Extraordinary Session

To: Rules

By: Senator(s) Dearing, Albritton, Baria, Blount, Brown, Browning, Bryan, Burton, Butler, Butler (36th), Carmichael, Chassaniol, Clarke, Davis, Dawkins, Dickerson, Fillingane, Flowers, Frazier, Gollott, Gordon, Harden, Hewes, Hopson, Horhn, Hudson, Hyde-Smith, Jackson (11th), Jackson (15th), Jackson (32nd), Jones, Jordan, King, Kirby, Lee (35th), Lee (47th), McDaniel, Mettetal, Michel, Moffatt, Montgomery, Nunnelee, Powell, Simmons, Stone, Tollison, Turner, Walls, Ward, Watson, Wilemon, Yancey

Senate Concurrent Resolution 501

(As Adopted by Senate and House)

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REMEMBERING THE GALLANT SERVICE AND MOURNING THE LOSS OF UNITED STATES ARMY FIRST SERGEANT ROBERT "BOBBY" NICHOLAS BARTON II, A NATIVE MISSISSIPPIAN FROM ROXIE, MISSISSIPPI, WHO WAS LOST IN ACTION IN AFGHANISTAN ON JUNE 7, 2010, AND EXPRESSING THE SYMPATHY OF THE LEGISLATURE.

     WHEREAS, United States Army First Sergeant Robert "Bobby" Nicholas Barton II, 35, was one of five soldiers lost in action on June 7, 2010, when a bomb exploded near their Humvee while on patrol in Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Barton was born in 1974 and grew up in the Roxie, Mississippi, area.  He was a 1993 graduate of Franklin County High School, where he was a popular member of the football team.  He joined the military the following year.  The people in his small community were saddened by his loss but very proud of his service; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Barton was deployed on April 24, 2010, from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).  He was on his sixth tour of duty.  The Army was his career, and he was four years from retiring.  In addition, he was the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, and the Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Star and had earned the Combat Infantry Badge along with the Army Ranger Tab, Expert Infantryman Badge, the Parachutist Badge, Pathfinder Badge and the Air Assault Badge; and

     WHEREAS, Sergeant Barton and his wife Rebecca had been married for one year and lived in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, where they had bought a home.  Barton was the son of Nathaniel Coleman of Amite County and Rebecca Paugh of West Virginia.  Jo Beth Coleman said that her grandson was proud of his military service and had made it his career.  Sergeant Barton has a half-brother, Nathan, who also serves in the military and is in Special Forces.

     WHEREAS, Staff Sergeant Barton's body arrived in Dover, Delaware, on June 9, 2010.  Mrs. Coleman said Nathan would escort his brother's body home, a request of his brother when he went to Afghanistan; and

     WHEREAS, carried by an Army Honor Guard, he returned to the family he loved and was buried with full military honors at the Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville, Kentucky; and

     WHEREAS, survivors include his wife, Rebecca; his stepson, Jason Wells; his father, Nathaniel Coleman of Amite County; his mother, Rebecca Paugh, who lives in West Virginia; his maternal grandmother, Patricia Paugh; his paternal grandparents, Nathaniel and Jo Beth Coleman; and a half-sister and half-brother; and

     WHEREAS, since operations began in the War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, at least 74 soldiers or sailors with strong Mississippi ties have died in action; and

     WHEREAS, Bobby Barton was a loving husband who is counted among America's heroes, committed to our nation's safety and security.  To a country, a fallen soldier means a national loss; to a community, a fallen soldier means a true hero; to a wife or parent, a fallen soldier means a husband or son who won't be coming home.  Mississippians understand the costs of conflict, because we have paid them in the past; and it is with great pride and humility that we recognize the heroic action of this great American and native Mississippian, who was the guardian of civilization as we know it today:

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do hereby remember the gallant service and mourn the loss of United States Army First Sergeant Robert "Bobby" Nicholas Barton II, a native Mississippian from Roxie, Mississippi, who was lost in action in Afghanistan on June 7, 2010, and extend the thoughts and prayers of the Legislature to his family in honor of their sacrifice and our sorrow on his passing.

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to the surviving family of Sergeant Barton and be made available to the Capitol Press Corps.