Army Sergeant First Class Clarence Douglas McSwain, 31, of Meridian, Mississippi, was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He died on June 8th, 2006, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle during combat operations in Baghdad, Iraq.

SFC McSwain graduated from Meridian High School, where he excelled academically and athletically, as a football player and an honor student. After graduation in 1993, he went on to major in English at the University of Southern Mississippi. During his 12-year Army career, he completed five overseas deployments, including three tours in Iraq. At the time of his death, he was serving as a platoon sergeant.

SFC McSwain was his brother’s hero; he remembered him as a great, strong and courageous person and leader, as well as a great father to his three children. Clarence was deployed to Iraq nine months before his passing but came home in January to meet his newborn son.

In addition to his children, his survivors include his wife, Kendrah, two brothers and two sisters.