Every evening for the past week, family members and friends have come to light candles at a memorial on the front lawn of the house where Adrian Mills grew up in Newnan.
“I just can’t tell you how kind the people are from Coweta County. They are still lighting candles … [and] a vigil will be every evening at dusk until Sunday,” said Jeff Blehschmidt, stepfather of Adrian Mills. “That candlelight vigil they’re doing here is being done around the globe every night in his memory.”
Army Spc. Adrian Glyn "A.J." Mills, 23, died Sept. 29 in Kirkuk, Iraq, from wounds sustained when his unit came under insurgent mortar fire, the Army said. Spc. Mills was assigned to the 272nd Military Police Company, 519th Military Police Battalion, 1st Maneuver Enhancement Brigade at Fort Polk.
The soldier’s body has been flown home, and visitation is set for 5 to 8 p.m. Sunday and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday in McKoon Funeral Home, Newnan. The funeral will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday in the chapel of the funeral home. McKoon is handling arrangements.
Mr. Blehschmidt set up the memorial to his son, a series of full-size American flags and dozens of smaller ones. Visitors have added candles, flowers and other items to the display.
As a teen, Spc. Mills served in the Civil Air Patrol and Northgate High School’s Air Force Junior ROTC. “That kid wanted to go in and help his country since he was in 7th grade,” Mr. Blehschmidt said.
But instead of joining the Air Force after graduating from Northgate in 2007, Spc. Mills joined the Army.
“He wanted more action than I think the Air Force would give him – and the Air Force couldn’t give him a guaranteed job as a military policeman, and that’s what he wanted to do,” Mr. Blehschmidt said.
Air Force Master Sgt. Ron Wolfe, who oversees Northgate’s Junior ROTC program, said the young man’s leadership abilities were readily apparent. “He was a quiet leader. He wasn’t demanding. He led by a positive example,” Master Sgt. Wolfe said.
A student when Northgate’s ROTC was being started, Spc. Mills was the first to be involved in the school’s color guard and its Saber Team special events squad. “We didn’t even have uniforms yet – nothing more than an Air Force T-shirt – and he was doing our first color guards at football games,” Master Sgt. Wolfe said.
Cassie McDonald, who grew up a few doors down from her friend and served with him in Northgate’s ROTC program, said, “When it came to organizing different events to help the community, A.J. was one of the first ones to jump in, which illustrated how big his heart was.”
For example, after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, Spc. Mills helped lead a school-wide drive to gather items desperately needed by the survivors – more than 15,000 pounds of “clothing, toys, diapers, wipes, water, anything and everything,” Master Sgt. Wolfe said.
Spc. Mills also is survived by his mother, Marie Elaine Blehschmidt, his wife, Sandra, who he met while stationed in Germany, and his sister, Maegon Mills of Houston. The military has flown Sandra’s parents, Franz and Doris Abel, to the United States from Heidelberg to attend the funeral.
The young soldier will be buried at Georgia National Cemetery, Canton, next to his friend Army Pvt. 2nd Colman Joseph Meadows III, who died in Afghanistan in December 2008.
"A.J.," Ms. McDonald said, "wanted everybody to remember what their freedom is worth and that life is short, so live it with no regrets.”
– The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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