'She'd pull at your heartstrings just a little bit harder'

EPHRATA —Jaime Lynn Krausse Campbell was the apple of everyone's eye. She was a selfless and motivated person who always brought a smile to your face.

Friends, family and the community of Ephrata came to remember and honor Jaime at funeral services Saturday at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Graveside services in Ephrata would later bring many who had been touched by the caring personality of the Ephrata High School graduate, and she would be bestowed posthumous honors by the Washington and Alaska National Guards with which she had served. Gov. Chris Gregoire and Washington National Guard Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg were also present Saturday to honor the 25-year-old soldier.

Army National Guard 1st Lt. Jaime Lynn Campbell died in a helicopter crash Jan. 7 in northern Iraq. She was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal and the Alaska Distinguished Service Medal for her service and for giving the ultimate sacrifice in Operation Iraqi Freedom. On Saturday a UH-60 Black Hawk like the one she loved to fly made a flyover the Ephrata Cemetery in honor of the fallen soldier.

"Jaime always stood out from the rest," said Elsie Chiles, Jaime's aunt, during funeral services. "She'd pull at your heartstrings just a little bit harder."

Chiles described her niece's love for animals, and horses, said Jaime wanted for a time to be a veterinarian. She was active in 4-H and would later be the state rodeo queen. Chiles said her love of animals was evident for anyone who saw the animals at the home of Jaime's parents, Jeff and Miki Krausse.

Even when Jaime was a teenager, Chiles said she always kept her goals in mind, and she graduated from Ephrata High School in 1998 as student body president. She later would graduate in 2002 from Washington State University with a degree in apparel, design and merchandising.

Chiles said Jaime had been placed on this Earth to give to others, and described about this past year in Iraq, when Jaime wanted everyone in her group to have a Christmas. She and another soldier went and bought little red stockings, Chiles said, and hung them on everyone's doors Christmas eve.

"You always wanted to watch Jaime," Chiles recounted a member of the family saying, "because if you looked away, even for a minute, you'd miss the chance of seeing something great."

Jaime's husband, Army Capt. Sam Campbell, spoke of how his wife touched so many lives.

"I have never met a woman who was so loving and caring, while always being so determined and strong," he said, adding the two shared a truer love than most experience in a lifetime.

Sam and Jaime would travel to see each other whenever they could. They were apart in their marriage more than they were together, but phone calls and e-mails kept them in constant contact.

When Jaime put her mind to her goals, Sam said she was determined to accomplish those goals. Jaime was raised in the Catholic church, and first suggested to Sam they attend LDS services, the church Sam had been raised in. Jaime was eventually baptized in the LDS church, and Sam and Jaime had their marriage sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple.

Lt. Col. James Zuba was a one of her supervisors at Washington State University, and described Jaime as someone everyone wanted on her team. She headed up the first women's Ranger Challenge Team at the school. Zuba said her fellow soldiers learned a a lot about competition from Jaime.

"She affected a lot of people, and taught a lot of people about mental care and toughness," Zuba said.

LDS President George Thompson told the community who had gathered for the funeral service that Jaime would not want them to weep at their loss, but would rather want them to continue on faithfully, and make the best of their lives, as she made of theirs.

"Jaime was a great blessing in all of our lives," Thompson said.

Jaime's aunt, Kaylee Lasley, told people that although it was tragic she was taken so early, Saturday's gathering wasn't about saying "good bye" but saying "thank you." Jaime's death had left an empty void in them all, but Lasley said they were all a little bit richer because of Jaime.

Funeral services filled the Ephrata Cemetery with members of the community, including the military support group American Citizens Encouraging Support. The group coordinates welcome home ceremonies for soldiers, and on Saturday spread out with homemade signs and American flags in honor of Jaime.

"The family needs to know that they're not alone, that there are people who can support them," said James Porter, himself a sergeant in an Army National Guard unit that returned from Iraq last year.

Jaime was deployed to Iraq in August, 2004, and was serving with the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment of the Alaska Army National Guard. She was one of two pilots of the Black Hawk which was providing support for the 101st Airborne Division when it crashed Jan. 7.

Sam spoke to Jaime the day she died. He said it was mostly business as the couple's units sometimes worked together, but as they talked he could hear her smile on the other end, "She told me that she loved me with all of her heart, and that she would see me soon," Sam said.

Sam said despite the fact Jaime is gone from this world, that doesn't mean she's gone from the people whose lives she touched, and told friends and family to be thankful she was able to touch all of their lives.

"She and I will always be together, forever," Sam said. "And one day we will get to have the family that we have always wanted."