Anthony J. Dixon
Anthony J. Dixon of Lindenwold, NJ.
Rank: Specialist, U.S. Army
Unit: 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division
Hometown: Lindenwold, New Jersey
Born: April 6, 1984
Died: , Killed in Action, Samarra, Iraq
Awards: Purple Heart
Specialist Anthony Joseph Dixon was born on April 6, 1984. He attended Montclair Elementary Schools, Gloucester County Christian School, and Overbrook Regional High School, where he graduated in 2002 and was a standout wrestler. He and his best friend, Adam Froehlich of Pine Hill, enlisted in the Army together. Dixon was assigned to the 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, based in Schweinfurt, Germany. He was killed on August 1, 2004, when a bomb exploded near his guard post in Samarra, Iraq. He was 20 years old. He is buried at Brigadier General William C. Doyle Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Wrightstown, NJ.
Lindenwold Soldier Killed in Iraq
Camden Courier-Post —
Breaking News…
Lindenwold — A borough man was one of two soldiers killed in Iraq on Sunday when an explosive device detonated near their guard post in the town of Samarra.
Specialist Anthony J. Dixon, 20, of White Horse Pike was assigned to the Army’s 1st Squadron, 4th Cavalry, 1st Infantry Division, according to the Department of Defense. Dixon’s unit is based in Schweinfurt, Germany.
The other soldier killed was identified as Spc. Armando Hernandez, 22, of Hesperia, Calif.
Lindenwold Man Killed by Bomb in Iraq
Camden Courier-Post —
Anthony Dixon was an Army specialist
Alexander Dixon Jr. and Christina Dixon remember their brother and uncle Anthony Dixon, a soldier who was killed in Iraq on Sunday.
Anthony Dixon’s family is in denial — and they know it.
“It’s still a dream,” said the Army specialist’s sister Mary Dixon, 24, almost cheerfully.
“It’s still a big state of denial,” added older sister Celesta Silvera, 36.
Dixon, two years out of high school, three months from marriage and nine months too young for a legal drink, died Sunday when a bomb exploded near his guardpost in Samarra, Iraq, Army officials said. Another soldier, Spc. Armando Hernandez, 22, a Californian, died with him. They were the 910th and 911th soldiers killed in the Iraq war, the family said.
“We just knew he was coming home,” Mary Dixon said.
“We’re proud of him, so we’re not grieving,” Silvera said.
“He’s a hero,” older brother Alexander Dixon Jr. added.
The Army was good for him, the family said. It tempered his wild and crazy spirit with discipline. Dixon himself knew he was directionless when he graduated from Overbrook Senior Regional High School, where he was a standout wrestler. He and one of his best friends, Adam Froehlich, of Pine Hill, enlisted in the Army together. Both were sent to Iraq, though they served in different units. And now both have died there. Froehlich was killed in March in an explosion in Baqubah. He was 21.
In Germany, Dixon met the woman he hoped to marry, Deniz Icol, a Turkish woman. The two hoped to marry in October.
Dixon was the youngest of five children.
A Hero Mourned
Camden Courier-Post —
Funeral Held For Lindenwold Soldier
Jackie Dixon, the mother of Army Spec. Anthony Joseph Dixon, is overcome with emotion at his funeral Saturday at Lindenwold High School. Dixon was killed by a bomb last Sunday in Samarra, Iraq. Photo by Paris L. Gray.
Army Spec. Anthony Joseph Dixon gave his mother one instruction if he met his “demise” in Iraq. Celebrate.
That’s exactly what Dixon’s family and friends did Saturday afternoon at Lindenwold High School in a tearful yet jubilant funeral filled with rousing songs and soaring praise. Cries of “Hallelujah!” and “Thank you, Lord!” punctuated a minute-long standing ovation honoring Dixon, 20, a borough resident who was killed by a bomb last Sunday in Samarra, Iraq.
“He was not only a hero for our country. He was a hero for God,” Pastor Rebecca Purifory, Dixon’s grandmother, told the crowd of more than 200 people.
Jay Sirles told a story that has come to embody the youth, perseverance and friendship shared by Dixon and Adam Froehlich, a classmate from Pine Hill and another recent Iraq war casualty. One day, sitting in Sirles’ house, Dixon and Froehlich decided to drive to Florida. The good friends left almost immediately, with little money, food or forethought. They struggled, but in a few days made it to Daytona Beach, concluding it was the best thing they’d ever done. Soon Dixon and Froehlich would enlist in the Army together.
“I regret not talking to him enough or e-mailing him enough while he was overseas,” said niece Christina Dixon. “I loved my uncle and I miss him.”
Lindenwold Mayor Frank A. DeLucca Jr. praised the Dixon family as “a true inspiration for me, and our whole town, in the way they’ve handled this.”
DIXON, ANTHONY JOSEPH
Camden Courier-Post —
On August 1, 2004, Specialist 4 Anthony Joseph of Lindenwold, NJ., age 20 years. Beloved son of Alexander M. and Jacquelyn C. (nee Harris) Dixon of Lindenwold. Survived by brother Alexander Dixon Jr., of Lindenwold, NJ., Sisters Kim (Derek) Dixon-Battle of Somerset, NJ., Celesta (Gerald) Silvera of West Orange, NJ., Mary (Michael) Dixon-Rinehart of Sicklerville, NJ., Grandmother Sarah Harris of New Port News, VA., fiancée Elis Deniz (Icoz) of Rothenburg, TBR Germany, and many loving nieces, nephews, cousins, aunts & uncles. Anthony was serving in the US Army 1st Infantry Division B Troop, in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Born on April 6, 1984, Anthony attended Montclair Elementary Schools, Gloucester County Christian School, and Overbrook Regional High School. Anthony participated in many sports including soccer in Montclair, baseball in Lindenwold, and was a member of the Overbrook Regional High School Wrestling Team. Relatives and friends are invited to attend the visitation on Saturday 11am to 1pm followed by services 1pm at Lindenwold High School, 801 Egg Harbor Road, Lindenwold, NJ 08021. Interment Brigadier General William C. Doyle NJ Veterans Cemetery, Wrightstown, NJ. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorial donations to the Marantha Christian Mission Church, 63 White Horse Avenue, Lindenwold, NJ 08021, for a foundation to be set up for the Anthony Dixon Recreational Center.