 Shawn and John Wroblewski mourn the loss of their oldest son, Marine Lt. John Thomas 'J.T.,' as they remember him on the deck behind their Jefferson home on Thursday. Dawn Benko / Daily Record |
Jefferson Marine 'died a hero'
Mourners gather to comfort one another following death in Iraq
JEFFERSON -- Some of the Marines he commanded and admired were with Marine Lt. John Thomas "J.T." Wroblewski when he died of his battle wounds on Wednesday in a hospital in Iraq, his parents said.
Mourning friends and relatives of Wroblewski, 25, the first Morris County soldier to die in Iraq, were drawing comfort from the realization that his fellow Marines had supported him and from the knowledge that he died doing what he loved.
"We could not be with him, but they were," Lt. Wroblewski's mother, Shawn, said of the Marines who were at her oldest son's bedside when he died.
Shawn Wroblewski was with her husband and their three other sons on Thursday at the family's longtime Michele Road home. A steady stream of well-wishers dropped off food and offered condolences.
John and Shawn Wroblewski have lived in Jefferson for 27 years.
"You see it on TV, you read it in the paper, it's always somebody else. I never would have imagined," she said.
"My firstborn, what a loss."
Lt. Wroblewski's father, John Walter Wroblewski, said his son was wounded on Tuesday in Ramadi, where at least 12 Americans lost their lives in some of the fiercest fighting since Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed.
"We want everybody to know that he was a hero, and he died a hero," Wroblewski said, pointing out pictures and other reminders throughout the house of his son's short, proud stint in the Marines.
A brother, David Wroblewski, 20, who started a landscaping business with Lt. Wroblewski's encouragement, spoke of his family's loss.
"I want to get the person that got him, but I can't. I'll leave that up to the trained professionals," he said.
At sunrise on Thursday, the family lowered the American flag on their garage to half-staff and attached a plate, with his name and second lieutenant rank, above the door.
"He's everything I would want to be -- loyal, honest, hardworking," said David Wroblewski.
Funeral arrangements have not been determined, and family members do not know when Lt. Wroblewski's body will be returned to the United States.
"I just don't want to bury him on his birthday," Shawn Wroblewski said.
Lt. Wroblewski would have turned 26 on April 16.
News of Lt. Wroblewski's death hit hard in Jefferson, a close-knit town of just under 20,000 that had not suffered a U.S. military fatality since the Vietnam War, according to Councilman Brooke Hardy.
"We read in the news about deaths in Iraq, the 600 soldiers, and of course it bothers you to hear about anyone killed, but it really hits home when it's someone you know," said Police Sgt. Eric Wilsusen, who visited the family's home.
Counselors were available on Thursday at Jefferson High School, where Lt. Wroblewski was a standout athlete and graduated in 1996.
The school's principal, Dennis Nick, said he choked up while announcing the death on the loudspeaker.
"It really brought the war right into the community," Nick said. "It's a shocker … It just shook the foundation of the school."
On Thursday, the three brothers managed smiles as they reflected on happier times.
Michael Wroblewski, 24, recalled his brother's bachelor party last year. Lt. Wroblewski wanted something low-key, so they and some friends played paintball in West Milford and set up a bonfire and grill in the backyard.
"He was my best friend. I always looked up to him," Michael Wroblewski said.
Richard Wroblewski, 18, a freshman at Iona College, had just finished football practice on Tuesday when he learned that his brother had been injured. He recalled how he had been unsure about playing college football, and how his oldest brother's encouragement spurred him to try out for the team.
"He was everything to me," Richard Wroblewski said.
On Thursday, John Walter Wroblewski walked through the backyard, where a chin-up station and dip bar that his son built to train for the Marines still stands.
"He bought the 4-by-4s, mixed the concrete, dug the holes," his father said.
Lt. Wroblewski gave his parents a photo on the living room wall with a quote from President Reagan -- "some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference to the world, but the Marines don't have that problem."
Lt. Wroblewski married Joanna, a Washington Township native, in July. They were living at Camp Pendleton when he was deployed to Iraq in July.
"They were just like two peas in a pod. They were just meant for each other," Michael Wroblewski said.
"The love that they had for each other was just unbelievable," added Lt. Wroblewski's father. "When God made her, he stamped her, Marine wife. It's not an easy life."
Joanna remained at Camp Pendleton on Thursday, he said.
"My heart goes out to her. They've only been married nine months," he said.
From the driveway, David Wroblewski looked at the family's front lawn. He described ripping up the yard last year and laying down topsoil with his oldest brother.
"Every time I cut it, I'll think of him," he said.
"He died protecting the country so we can live free and do what we do every day," he said.
Lt. Wroblewski's death was keenly felt by another Jefferson parent with a Marine son in Iraq. Marine Sgt. William Knipper IV, 24, is a machine gun instructor at the 1st Division headquarters battalion in Fallujah, said his father, former township councilman William Knipper.
He first went to Iraq last year and returned for a second stint in February, Knipper said of his son.
"My son is a trained warrior. That's what he does," Knipper said. "I wish he were home, but that's not the way it worked out."
Lt. Chris Doyle of Alexandria, Va., a Florham Park native, served with Lt. Wroblewski in officer candidate school in Quantico, Va., in 2002.
"He was real easygoing, but not to a fault. He worked hard," Doyle said.
Lt. Wroblewski commanded about 40 Marines in a 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines unit that was nicknamed the "Magnificent Bastards," his father said, adding that he often referred to his fellow Marines as an extended family.
"He loved his men," John Walter Wroblewski said. "He would say, 'Dad, these guys are like Dave, Rich and Mike.'"
He and his wife last heard from their son in a letter received on Monday.
Tuesday's ambush and three-hour gun battle in Ramadi began when Marines stopped to investigate a white civilian pickup left next to a wall on a footpath on a dusty street, U.S. officials said.
Ramadi is 18 miles from Fallujah. Both cities have been a base for insurgents looking to oust the U.S.-led occupation.
Lt. Wroblewski's wife told her in-laws in a phone call on Tuesday evening that he had been seriously wounded. John and Shawn Wroblewski summoned their children and began a vigil that lasted until 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, when two Marines and a chaplain arrived to deliver the sad news.
"They were very professional and they were also very calm," John Walter Wroblewski said.
The Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks persuaded Lt. Wroblewski, a Rutgers University graduate, to join the Marines, his father said. He left Camp Pendleton for Kuwait in mid-February and was in Iraq for little more than a month.