Army Staff Sgt. John James Cleaver wanted to be in Afghanistan for Christmas.
“He felt he needed to be there for his men,” said his mother, Teresa Cleaver.
John Cleaver, 36, who listed his home as Marysville, and Sgt. Daniel Frazier of Michigan were killed by a suicide bomb Thursday in the Zabul Province of Afghanistan, the Army said Monday.
The members of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team were delivering supplies to a forward operating base when a truck pulled up beside them and exploded. They were part of Company E, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
John Cleaver was on his fourth deployment to a war zone and his second stint in Afghanistan, his mother said.
Her son always wanted to join the military, said Teresa Cleaver of Joplin, Mo. He was inspired by others in his family who served their country. His grandfather, John Harold Poole, lost a leg during the Battle of the Bulge, a critical victory with heavy casualties during World War II.
“He was so proud when he went into the Army,” his mother said. “He was wearing the same uniform as his grandfather.”
Teresa Cleaver described her son as a bright, caring man who collected pens for Afghani children and salvaged parts to reassemble wheelchairs for disabled Iraqis.
John Cleaver first joined the Navy in 1995. He was stationed on the USS Inchon at Ingleside, Texas, and served in Kosovo. He later was a firefighter instructor in Norfolk, Va., before being stationed on the Everett-based frigate USS Rodney M. Davis.
Cleaver grew up in the Midwest, where he learned to fly small planes and earned his emergency medical technician certification. He loved to see the world during his military career, and learned to speak bits of eight languages.
He quickly became attached to the Pacific Northwest after he was stationed in Everett. He told relatives he could imagine becoming a nurse after he retired from the Army and settling down in the Seattle area.
He has two sons, Collin, who turns 12 on Wednesday, and Aidan, 10. He and his wife were separated.
Cleaver retired from the Navy after 10 years and enlisted in the Army in June 2006. In Afghanistan, he served as a convoy commander and a medic.
After a 15-month tour in Afghanistan, he went on to complete Warrior Leader Course and Airborne School.
Teresa Cleaver has two stepchildren, but John Cleaver was her only biological child.
A bicycle accident during high school severely injured his wrist, to the point that Teresa Cleaver believed her son would have to abandon his dreams of joining the military. The injury didn’t heal right and he couldn’t do a push-up like other servicemen, but his determination allowed him to pass physicals.
“When he switched (to the Army), he did all the push-ups on his knuckles,” his mother said.
Teresa Cleaver said she always knew there was no stopping her son.
“All I could do is just be proud,” she said.
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
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