Staff Sergeant Chester J McBride Jr

Staff Sergeant Chester J. McBride Jr. surprised his former coaches in the fall when he showed up unannounced at the school. Mr. Pennington recalled being impressed by how he had matured and asked him to give a talk to the football team. Sergeant McBride agreed, and returned the day he was leaving for Afghanistan to give the players lessons on taking opportunities when they come, making good choices, choosing friends wisely and respecting authority. He stood in front of 95 Statesboro High School players and delivered a simple message:

Trust that those with authority over you have your best interest at heart, he told the teens from his alma mater, and make the most of every opportunity you’re given. Choose your friends carefully. More than anything, be good — to yourself, to others, to the world.

“All these things were something our players needed to hear,” Mr. Pennington said. “But it reinforced to us coaches that what we’re teaching them, he is living it.”

His former Statesboro High School principal, Dr. Ken LeCain recalled, Chester was quiet, but amiable, humble but driven. And that grin. “I will always remember him as a young man of high character with a great smile. I consider myself fortunate to have worked closely with Chester as a student and an athlete.”

Chester played defensive back on the Blue Devils’ 2001 state championship team. He later played at Savannah State University.

Statesboro head coach Steve Pennington served as defensive coordinator when Chester attended the school from 1999 to 2003. He recalled, “His personality was very quiet, He was very conscientious of his play, and he possessed the talent of having great speed. And he was very disciplined with his assignments, which put him in a good position to make plays in ball games.You could be having your deepest and darkest day, but he could elevate your spirit with the most radiant smile that you’d ever want to see. And that smile comes from a pure heart.”

Mayor Jan Moore ordered the flags over City Hall flown at half-staff. Others, like Pennington, reflected on the inspiration McBride left behind. “He wanted the world to be good,” the coach said. “And to be good you’ve got to have good people. Boy howdy, Is his message even louder and clearer today than it was then.”

United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Chester J. McBride Jr., 30, of Statesboro, Georgia, forfeited his life, 21 December 2015, when a cowardly suicide bomber drove his explosive laden motorcycle and detonated himself into the a group of six airmen investigators, in Bagram Afghanistan. As agents and airmen they were conducting a patrol as part of an investigation. His current billet was as a special agent for the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, which investigates felony-level crimes in the U.S. and overseas. He was assigned to the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Detachment 405, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel.

Brigadier General Keith Givens, OSI commander further remarked; "The deaths of the four OSI agents make Monday's attack the deadliest day in our command's history."

"Our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families and friends of those affected in this tragic incident, especially during this holiday season," Army Brig. Gen. William Shoffner, a spokesman for NATO's Resolute Support mission in Kabul, said in a statement.

In his released remarks, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter called the attack "a painful reminder of the dangers our troops face every day in Afghanistan."

The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest on international forces there since August. Bagram, around 40 km (25 miles) north of Kabul, is one of the main bases for the remaining 9,800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

The suicide attack came just a few days shy of the one-year anniversary of the United States and NATO formally ending their combat mission in the country.