Fellow Army reservists affectionately nicknamed William Jerome Rivers “Old Man Rivers.” It was a nod to his years of experience in the military and the fact that he was older than other soldiers in his unit at 46. Often smiling, Rivers exuded calmness. He was unflappable and didn’t complain.
“You just wanted to be around him,” said Staff Sgt. Samuel Sullivan, who was deployed with Rivers in Western Iraq years ago.
Sullivan joined Gov. Brian Kemp, First Lady Marty Kemp and scores of other mourners at a memorial service Tuesday for Rivers at Tabernacle Baptist Church.
Rivers, who was posthumously promoted to staff sergeant, was killed in a Jan. 28 drone attack in northeastern Jordan. Two others from his Georgia-based unit were also killed in the assault: Breonna Alexsondria Moffett, 23, of Savannah, and Kennedy Ladon Sanders, 24, of Waycross. Both were posthumously promoted to sergeant. More than 40 other U.S. service members were injured in the attack.
In response, the Pentagon has carried out airstrikes on militias affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iraq and Syria. It launched a separate attack in Baghdad that killed a senior leader of Kata’ib Hezbollah, the militia officials have said was responsible for the drone attack in Jordan.
Born in Philadelphia, Rivers was married with one son and two stepchildren. He enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2011 as an interior electrician and completed a nine-month rotation in Iraq in 2018. Rivers, who went by “Will,” was deployed this year to a logistics support base near the Syrian border as part of the 718th Engineer Company, which is assigned to Fort Moore in Georgia.
The Rev. James Betner, who baptized Rivers, urged mourners to grieve but also to have hope, reading from I Thessalonians 4:13-18, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.”
“Beloved, I am here to tell you today: Cry, weep, go through all the stages. Mourn,” Betner said. “It is natural to grieve. Grieving is a debt that we owe to love. If we love, we grieve.”
He added: “While you are grieving, while you are mourning, think about the things that give you hope for the future.”
Brig. Gen. Todd Lazaroski, who leads a command including Rivers’ unit, called him a dedicated, skilled and selfless soldier.
“His kindness and unwavering faith left a mark on all who had the privilege to know him,” said Lazaroski, commanding general of the 412th Theater Engineer Command.
“Staff Sgt. Rivers was more than a fellow soldier. He was a friend, a confidant and a beacon of positivity in the darkest of times. His infectious smile and wisdom were a source of comfort and inspiration to his fellow soldiers.”
Staff Sgt. Jonathan Higginbotham, who served alongside Rivers in the Army Reserve, was struck by his placid demeanor.
“You really couldn’t upset that guy, even though we were put through a lot of challenging assignments and jobs,” Higginbotham said. “Nothing ever bothered him. He would kind of look at you like, ‘Why are you so bothered?’”
“Just being around him — he would calm you down,” he added. “It helped the morale and helped the team.”
As the memorial service ended, a bagpiper performed “Amazing Grace.” Higginbotham and the other mourners filed out of the sanctuary followed by Rivers’ flag-draped casket. His loved ones were taking him to his final resting place at Georgia National Cemetery in Canton.
Funerals will be held Saturday in Waycross for Sanders and in Savannah for Moffett, the other two reservists killed in the drone attack.
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