Published Sunday, September 05, 2010

Funeral for Moreland soldier set for Tuesday

By Winston Skinner

The Newnan Times-Herald

A funeral service for Chad Derek Coleman, a soldier from Moreland who was killed in Afghanistan, will be held Tuesday in Wisconsin.

The Coleman family was from Wisconsin before moving to Coweta County. According to an article about Coleman in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, services "are being planned for Tuesday, with full military honors."

Cowetans who remembered Coleman, 20, mourned the young man who attended Newnan High School before entering the service. Dennis Davis, whose son was a close friend of Coleman, remembered seeing Coleman just before he deployed to Afghanistan.

"He was so proud of that uniform," Davis said.

Coleman was a cavalry scout assigned to B Troop, 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Ky. He was killed Aug. 27 when a command-wired improvised explosive device was detonated near his vehicle during convoy operations in the Paktiya province of Afghanistan.

Also killed in the attack was Pvt. Adam J. Novak, 30, of Prairie du Sac, Wisc.

Coleman entered the Army in October 2008 and arrived at Fort Campbell in March 2009. He attended Newnan High from August 2005 to the spring of 2009.

Coleman is survived by his father, Brian P. Coleman, and his mother, Shanon C. Coleman, both of Moreland. Many extended family members live in Wisconsin, including his grandparents, Dale and Mary Ann Coleman of Muskego.

According to a Fort Campbell news release, Coleman's awards and decorations included: Army Good Conduct Medal; National Defense Service Medal; Afghanistan Campaign Medal; Global War on Terrorism Service Medal; Army Service Ribbon; NATO Medal and Weapons Qualification: M4 rifle (expert).