Our Arklahoma Hereos: Jasper High School graduate gave his life in service during Operation Enduring Freedom
William Wade Bushnell was born on January 27, 1983, in Harrison, the only son of Wesley R. Bushnell and Peggy A. Fuselier Bushnell. His mother’s family carried the Fuselier name with roots in Louisiana, and both of his grandmothers, Lela Van and Mae Campbell, lived in Westlake, Louisiana, at the time of his death.
On his father’s side the family included earlier Bushnell relatives, and he was preceded in death by grandparents Evan James Bushnell, Don Gilbert, Harold Van, Walter and Gladys Fuselier, and Moise Campbell.
He grew up in the small Newton County community of Mount Sherman near Jasper, where his parents lived, and he attended local schools. He graduated from Jasper High School in 2001 and then spent a semester at Arkansas Tech University before deciding on military service.
Friends and family later recalled him as a daredevil who liked driving fast up mountain roads in his little white truck, a genuine and trustworthy young man who was never judgmental and could talk easily with others. He was a member of the Mount Sherman Assembly of God Church.
He enlisted in the United States Army on October 16, 2002, and trained as an infantryman with the military occupational specialty 11B. He wanted airborne infantry duty and served proudly in that role. After completing basic and advanced individual training, he was assigned to infantry units and later reached the rank of sergeant.
Records show service years running from 2002 to 2007, with duty that included a deployment in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan during the Consolidation I period around 2004 to 2005. He then returned to the United States and was assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas.
The 4th Brigade Combat Team had been activated at Fort Bliss in October 2005 as a new modular formation. In the fall of 2006 the brigade prepared for and began deploying to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bushnell and elements of 2-12 Cavalry reached the theater in November 2006.
The battalion was attached to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, and operated in western Baghdad, specifically conducting counterinsurgency patrols and security operations in the Ghazaliya and Shulla neighborhoods. These areas saw heavy sectarian violence and attacks by both al-Qaeda in Iraq and Jaysh al-Mahdi fighters.
The unit helped establish joint security stations, conducted clearing operations, and worked with Iraqi forces during a period of intense fighting that later earned the battalion a Valorous Unit Award for actions from December 2006 to June 2007.
Bushnell had earlier suffered a shoulder injury that sent him to a hospital in Kuwait, but he was determined to return to his comrades in Baghdad.
On April 21, 2007, during combat operations in Baghdad, the vehicle in which Sergeant Bushnell was riding was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. He died of the wounds received in that attack at the age of 24. He was the thirteenth soldier from the 4th Brigade Combat Team to be killed since the unit’s deployment began.
His remains were recovered in accordance with standard military procedures for casualties in a combat zone and returned to the United States under the care of the Army.
He was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. A memorial ceremony was later held in his honor at Fort Bliss on May 16, 2007.
Congressman John Boozman of Arkansas entered a tribute into the Congressional Record on April 25, 2007, noting the father’s statement that Billy had served proudly in the airborne infantry, had wanted that duty when he joined, and had thought only of returning to his unit after being injured.
Local visitation was held at the Mount Sherman Assembly of God. A funeral service took place on Sunday, April 29, 2007, at the Jasper Gymnasium in Jasper, Arkansas. Additional services and the committal were conducted in the Lake Charles, Louisiana, area, reflecting the family’s Louisiana connections on the Fuselier side.
He was buried at Indian Village Cemetery in Kinder, Allen Parish, Louisiana.
His name appears on the Newton County Veterans Memorial in Jasper.
