GAYLORD — A Gaylord soldier died in Iraq.
U.S. Army Pfc. John Thomas Bishop, 22, died Wednesday in a vehicle accident in Iraq, where he was stationed as an infantry member of the 101st Airborne Division. His parents are John William and Gaye Bishop of Gaylord.
"He was in a heavy armored vehicle and the side of the road gave way and the vehicle rolled over into a canal and he was trapped," said John Bishop about his son's death. "Two other soldiers died, too."
U.S. Department of Defense officials would not confirm Bishop's death on Thursday, although family members did. Bishop did not know if his son drowned, but an autopsy will be conducted, he said.
John Thomas Bishop attended Gaylord High School, but earned a GED ahead of his class when he was 17. He loved his family and his new wife, Diane, with whom he would have celebrated a first anniversary in July, John Bishop said.
"He was an avid snowmobiler. He liked to fish and skydive. He liked to do dangerous things. He was a risk-taker," Bishop said.
Military officers arrived at the family's home late Wednesday to deliver the news.
"You knew when you saw them. We knew right away," Bishop said.
Bishop was serving his first tour of duty in Iraq and was about half way through the hitch. He came home on leave in March.
"He went snowmobiling and was real happy about that," Bishop said.
Bishop's body is not expected to arrive back in Michigan for another week to 10 days, when a funeral likely will be held at Nelson Funeral Home in Gaylord, Bishop said.
He is survived by his wife and parents, along with four siblings: half-sisters Jennifer Tye and Lisa Katchmark, along with half-brothers Kevin Tye and Bernie Bishop.
Kevin Tye is in Iraq on his second tour of duty, but is on his way home because of his brother's death, Bishop said.
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