Natchez has lost another native son to the war in Iraq. Army Sgt. Todd Partridge leaves behind a wife, two daughters, and a hometown grieving for a man who was friendly, compassionate and kind.

Partridge left Natchez for the same reason many of our neighbors have left in recent years &045; to find another job. When Johns Manville closed in 2002, Partridge chose to join the U.S. Army. He moved his family to Ford Lewis, Wash., where he was stationed.

And last Saturday, he was killed when a bomb went off near the vehicle he was driving in Iraq, his family said.

We cannot know the grief that Partridge’s family is enduring, but we certainly offer our prayers to them and to all of their friends here in Natchez.

Partridge was a South Natchez High School graduate and a member of First Baptist Church in Natchez. He was a family man who doted on his daughters and always had a smile on his face. He was a church league sports coach and avid outdoorsman.

Partridge’s death yet again puts a face on the casualties in Iraq. The war there has so far claimed 1,869 American lives and an unknown number of Iraqis.

The war has, especially lately, inspired great debate, polls that show a growing uncertainty about America’s role in Iraq, and a protest outside the president’s vacation home sparked by a mother who lost a son there.

But we know this: Sgt. Todd Partridge did not die in vain. He died in service to the American military and the American people, in a nation struggling to adopt democracy and freedom, and he died as he tried to make a living for the family he loved.

To some, his death will be one statistic in a vast conflict, but it means far more than that, because his life made a huge impact on his family and on his community.