Erskine deployed twice to Iraq

MADISON – Samuel Erskine joined the U.S. Army in September 1995 as a Private, E-1. “I was medically separated from the Army on 8 June 2010 as a Staff Sargent (SSG) E-6,” he said.

Erskine completed basic training at Fort Sill, Okla., Bravo Battery 1/19 Field Artillery. He was assigned to Fort Stewart, Ga., 3rd FSB (Heavy Mech).

“I then PCS’d to Kaiserslautern, Germany and stayed there five years, after which I was assigned to Fort Benning, Ga. where I deployed to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom III,” Erskine said.

“After returning from combat, I was assigned to Fort Bragg, N.C. It was there that I ended my career with 12 years, 8 months and 21 days of active honorable service,” he said. He retired as a 100-percent disabled veteran.

“I returned to Madison in June 2008 to be closer to our oldest son who graduated from Bob Jones. I am originally from Huntsville, but my mother worked for the state so I have lived all over the state from Montgomery to Huntsville and everywhere in between,” he said.

“I consider Alabama my hometown,” Erskine said.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Columbia College on Redstone Arsenal. He also attended Liberty University Baptist Theological Seminary and earned a master’s degree in Christian ministry with a cognate in pastoral ministry.

Currently, he works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as the Corps Quota Source Manager.

“I am married to a wonderful wife, Sequelia Erskine, who recently returned to homemaking after working for Hogan Family YMCA in Madison,” he said. “I am blessed with four boys: Parris, 23, serving in the U.S. Navy; Kilen, 15, sophomore at James Clemens High School; Karsten, 11, sixth-grader at Mill Creek Elementary School; and Konnor, 9, fourth-grader at Mill Creek Elementary School.”

Sam Erskine belongs to several organizations, including Wounded Warrior Project, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Association, VFW and Disabled American Veterans. He volunteers weekly at Madison Beacon Hill Worship Center.

“My hobbies are motorcycle riding and working out at the Y,” he said.