Update on Noah Harris

Iraq soldier passionate, friends say

Noah Harris left for military training immediately after his 2003 graduation from the University of Georgia. But the people who knew Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity brother and former captain of UGA's cheerleading squad say they weren't surprised he left job offers and postponed a promising future to serve overseas, said Harris' father Rick Harris of Ellijay.
[...]
Harris joined the Army Reserve Officers Training Corp at UGA shortly after Sept. 11, 2001, his father said. After he graduated from UGA in December 2003, Harris went straight to Fort Benning in Columbus to train for his January 2005 deployment to Iraq. After his death, the Army posthumously promoted him from second Lieutenant to First Lieutenant, said Robbins.
[...]
Harris, an alumni member of UGA's chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, is the second member of the fraternity to serve and be killed in the war in Iraq. Bradley Arms, a University of Georgia student and U.S. Marine, died in Fallujah, Iraq in November.

Will Childs, a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and president of UGA's student government association, knew both Harris and Arms. Their decision to serve in the Armed Forces and go to Iraq were unusual, but not surprising, said Childs.

"They were typical of our fraternity," Childs said. "We've always tried to recruit guys who are a little different, who push themselves a little further and who are outstanding members of society. I think these two guys definitely could be called outstanding members of society."

When Childs joined Sigma Phi Epsilon, his pledge class spent some time every week reading and discussing the stories of soldiers who had been awarded medals of honor for their military service. The exercise was meant to teach the new fraternity members about brotherhood, Childs said.

"We never thought that just one year from then we'd lose two brothers who displayed the kind of heroism we'd been reading about," he said.

OnlineAthens: News: Iraq soldier passionate, friends say 06/21/05 (Free Subscr. Reqd.)

Access North Ga. - Northeast Georgia suffers second soldier death in Iraq