4/12 Infantry -- Looking For Jeffrey Cumby

Chris Skains wrote in, shared some news and asked after an old buddy, Jeffrey Christian Cumby from Baird, Texas. Chris told me to go ahead and post his message on the blog, so here you go:

I was in Bravo 4/12 from Dec 93 to Dec 95. As a private E1, I was a dismount saw gunner, then a Bradley driver on a good crew. We scored Distinguished at every gunnery. My gunner, SPC Echols got a leg broke in a bar fight in Downtown Baumholder and we had a gun-off to replace him. I won the spot as an E3 PFC! My first gunnery I fired a 923 and I thought that I over-achieved. But, in April 95 we deployed to Kuwait and fired gunnery on some sorry, makeshift lanes in the desert. I fired a perfect 1000 points. I believe that it was a tad easier there, but no one else shot a 1000, so I was really proud. My driver, PFC Reid was a crazy brother from New York City. Good guy, decent driver, terrible soldier. He hated discipline. My best friend was SPC Jeffrey Christian Cumby from Baird, TX. I ets'd as a SPC4 in Dec '95 about a month before the unit left for Bosnia. I spoke to him once after he returned and was in some trouble at his new unit at Ft Hood. But, never after that. He was like a brother to me and I wish he could meet my children. I named my first born son after him. Christian Lane Skains, born in 1998. I have many other folks I wish I still knew from that period of my military career, but none more than him. Thanks for the cool site. Warriors never die!

Thanks for writing, Chris! If anyone can make the link, drop a note into the comments along with a contact email and we'll get these guys back in touch.

By the way, please add your name to the roster while you're here!