Nyle Yates...may you rest in peace.

LAKE ODESSA, Mich. — A soldier from a community located between Grand Rapids and Lansing was killed while serving in Iraq, the Department of Defense announced.
A defense department statement released Monday said Army Cpl. Nyle Yates III died in Bayji, Iraq, on Thursday “when he came under small arms fire by enemy forces during combat operations.”
Yates, a 22-year-old from Lake Odessa, was assigned to a unit that operated out of Fort Campbell, Ky. (3/21/2006)


Army confirms death of Mich. soldier in Iraq
22-year-old Lake Odessa man killed in Bayji when he came under small arms fire by enemy forces
By Oralandar Brand-Williams The Detroit News /

Army Cpl. Nyle Yates III was a nice young man who mentored younger kids at the Lakewood Youth Center while attending Lakewood High School in Lake Odessa in western Michigan, friends said.
Ferol Ball of Lake Odessa, a retired school bus driver, drove him to high school and described him as a God-fearing youth.
"He was a Christian young man," said Ball, whose son was a close friend of Cpl. Yates. "Our only solace is that he's with the Lord right now."
Cpl. Yates, 22, of Lake Odessa, was killed Thursday in Bayji, Iraq, when he came under small arms fire by "enemy forces during combat operations," the Department of Defense announced Tuesday.
Cpl. Yates was assigned to the Army's 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), the Defense Department said. He was on his second tour in Iraq and is at least the 81st service member with ties to Michigan to die in that country since the war began in March 2003.
"He was a quiet and good-natured kid who came to school and did what we asked him to do," said Mike O'Mara, principal of Lakewood High School, where Cpl. Yates graduated in 2002. After graduation, he joined the Army, said O'Mara.
"He wasn't able to go to college, so I believe he did this (joined the Army) to get money for college," Ball said.
Cpl. Yates' parents moved to Eagle, near Lansing, after his graduation.
"It's a shock," said O'Mara. "Teachers have talked about what a good kid he was to have in their classes."
For Ball, news of Cpl. Yates' death hit especially hard. Cpl. Yates and Ball's son, Joey, were longtime pals.
"It's young men and women like him who keep us free," she said. "When they give their lives it's hard (emotionally)."
Cpl. Yates is survived by his mother and stepfather, Jami and Donald Edgecomb; and a sister, Krystal. His family could not be reached for comment.
Funeral arrangements are being made by the Peters & Murray Funeral Home in Grand Ledge.


Lake Odessa mourns soldier's death
Saturday, March 18, 2006
By Theresa D. McclellanThe Grand Rapids Press
LAKE ODESSA -- As word spread that a former Lake Odessa high school student died while serving in Iraq, shocked and saddened residents recalled Nyle Yates as a humorous and straightforward young man.
Lakewood High School Principal Mike O'Mara said he learned of the 2002 graduate's death Thursday from Yates' family.
"He was a quiet kid who did what he was supposed to do in school. He came as a baby-faced freshman all of 5'5" and left as a 6'1" senior who always had a smile on his face," recalled O'Mara.
Yates joined the Army in 2002 and was serving his second tour of duty, friends said. Yates saw combat during his first tour of duty. At that time, he was a radio operator when his commander was wounded.
"Nyle had to call in a helicopter. For a 19-year-old kid, that was pretty good," recalled the principal.
Debbie Calderon of Lake Odessa said she, too, learned of Yates' death Thursday.
"It's such a tight-knit community. We want to do something to honor his memory fighting in the war," she said.
"My heart goes out to his mother."
Some friends were too distraught to speak about him. "This town took a big hit," said one man, who described Yates as his best friend.
Ferol Ball of Lake Odessa said her son, Joe Day, of Texas, was another close friend of Yates.
Her son called her with the news of his death Thursday. "It was a rough night," Ball said.
"(Yates) was a very straightforward, honest, loving and caring individual. He served his country, he wanted to, and unfortunately he gave his life. But without men and women like him, it would be a more dangerous world. I have four sons and can't imagine losing one," Ball said.
Funeral arrangements were incomplete Friday.