Maryland's Twenty-Nineth Hero

jamesjstoddard
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Army Sgt. 1st Class James J. Stoddard Jr., 29, of Crofton, Md.; assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Bragg, N.C., killed Sept. 30 when his vehicle accidentally rolled over in Afghanistan.

HE WAS A GOOD, CARING OFFICER

“He was one of the kindest, most loving boys you could ever meet,” his mother, Kathleen Stoddard said Monday night from her home in Crofton.

James Stoddard graduated in 1994 from Arundel High School, where he played varsity football and baseball. He attended Anne Arundel Community College and Salisbury State University before enlisting in the Army when he was 21, his mother said.

“He was detail-oriented and organized,” Kathleen Stoddard said. “The Army was the absolutely perfect place for him."

“He loved leading his men,” she said. “He made sure all the soldiers (in his unit) came home on two weeks tours before he did. He was a good, caring officer. He loved his family and he loved his soldiers.”