Names, Stories, and Pictures of the Fallen Heroes of Operation Iraqi Freedom

Marine Lance Cpl. Jakub H. Kowalik

http://www.dailyherald.com/news_story.asp?intid=37767218

Last full measure of devotion

By Shamus Toomey and Shruti Daté Singh Daily Herald Staff Writers
Posted May 26, 2003

When she lived in her native Poland, Danuta Kowalik would bring her two young boys to a cemetery this time of year and solemnly visit the dead soldiers.

"Somebody," she would explain, "needs to say ‘Thank you' to them."

When she moved to Chicago's suburbs in 1991, Kowalik kept the tradition, changing only the day of the visits. Instead of the early May anniversary of Germany's World War II surrender, she adopted America's Memorial Day.

This year, she'll be going back to a cemetery, but so much has changed. Today, she will be saying ‘Thank you' to her own soldier, son Jakub, a 21-year-old Marine killed in Iraq on May 12.

"I never imagined he would be one of those heroes in the cemetery," the Schaumburg woman says, her voice filled with sorrow.

America has thousands of new heroes this Memorial Day. The wars against terrorism in Afghanistan and now Iraq have left 241 U.S. soldiers dead and 716 wounded. Of the dead, 162 died in Operation Iraqi Freedom since March. Tens of thousands of men and women are still deployed in those countries -- and veterans back home are hoping it's enough to make people remember what Memorial Day is all about.

It's not just supposed to be the unofficial start of summer, the day the grill comes out, the reason for a blowout sale or the lifting of the ban on wearing white. It's more than a three-day weekend, they say.

It's the solemn day to honor fallen soldiers.

"I'm a retired military officer. I've been stationed around the country, and that was always my feeling" about the public perception of Memorial Day, says Jim Hughes, director of the Memorial Day Museum in the holiday's acknowledged birthplace, Waterloo, N.Y.

"It was the weekend to start the summer, to have a cookout, to go boating," he said. "It bothers me, but I'm not going to castigate these people. By having a three-day weekend, I don't see how to avoid it, unfortunately."

Some local vets think this could be the year for the meaning to crystallize in the public's mind, and for that meaning to stretch further than to just the people who typically turn out every year.

"I think people are more patriotic now. They think a little bit more of the veterans," says Henry Youngquist, 83, a World War II bomber pilot from Mount Prospect. "I think more of the younger people are coming around to appreciate their GIs because of the situation in the world. I think the teachers are doing a good job."

Joe Macejak, a National Guard reservist for 39½ years, sold red cloth poppies for the American Legion this week at a nice clip. He thinks the war in Iraq will help change people's thoughts about Memorial Day.

"I think a lot of people will consider it differently," the Northwest Side of Chicago man said while selling the flower tributes. "Memorial Day actually has lost a lot of its meaning. Now it's more commercialized. There's not that many people who go to the cemeteries to remember their veterans, their families, their friends.

"Hopefully, people will find it in their hearts to remember what the day is really for, not just a joyous weekend," he said. "It should be a day of remembrance and prayers."

A total of 162 U.S. soldiers have died in and around Iraq since March, including Jakub Kowalik and Marine Corps First Lt. Timothy Ryan, 30, a native of Aurora killed in a helicopter crash near Baghdad May 19. And Petty Officer 3rd Class Dwayne Williams, 23, of Philadelphia, was presumed dead Sunday, having fallen off his ship while on the way home from Iraq.

Another 495 have been wounded, and some 150,000 troops are still deployed there.

Since U.S. troops moved into Afghanistan in the months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 79 American soldiers have died there and another 221 have been wounded, according to the Department of Defense. Among the dead is Illinois Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Jacob Frazier, 24, of St. Charles, who was killed there March 29.

The casualties, veterans say, are all reminders of the meaning of Memorial Day, which dates back to 1866. It was formalized as a day of remembrance in 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic set aside a Decoration Day to honor the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers.

"The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land," Logan's order declared.

The holiday later became Memorial Day, and Congress in 1971 declared it a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. Some veterans, like museum director Hughes, believe moving the holiday back to May 30 would underscore its meaning because it wouldn't always be a three-day weekend.

The long weekend does allow for several days worth of memorial events, but most of the events locally are on Monday.

Communities around the country, including scores around the suburbs, will mark the day with parades, remembrance ceremonies and prayers. Many of the events, such as the annual Arlington Heights parade sponsored by Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 981, are usually well-attended. But there is a belief that, in times of peace, the holiday loses its meaning to much of the country.

For Danuta Kowalik, however, it's never lost its meaning. It's just far more painful now.

She had hoped Jakub, whom she last saw in September, would be back from Iraq by now, hugging her. "A hero who is alive next to me," she says.

But Jakub was killed when an ordnance he was handling exploded. And he's still not home yet. His body is en route, and a funeral is planned for Wednesday.

So his mother will pray alone today by the empty grave reserved for him in Maryhill Cemetery in Niles.

It will be a day of sadness for her, but she wants the community to not just remember and honor all of the fallen soldiers, but to also celebrate life.

"They need to celebrate and enjoy their life," she said. "Somebody lost their life for them to be happy."

Marine Pfc. Jose F. Gonzalez Rodriguez

http://www.presstelegram.com/Stories/0,1413,204~21474~1412534,00.html#

Marine remembered
By Neda Raouf, Staff writer

NORWALK Friends and former schoolmates of a local Marine who died this month in Iraq gathered Friday at his former high school to remember him and his service to his country.
Representatives from every class were at the approximately 30-minute memorial at John Glenn High School for 2001 graduate Pfc. Jose F. Gonzalez Rodriguez.

Rodriguez, who was a Norwalk resident, was killed May 12 along with another Marine when ordnance they were handling exploded, officials said.

The incident is under investigation.

"Jose, we will always remember you,' said Joi Goldberg, who spoke at the memorial as a representative of the student body.

Rodriguez, a former baseball player, never missed practice, games or events, and he also worked hard at his studies and graduated as an honors student with a 3.4 grade point average, officials said.

He had a lot of school spirit and showed it by never failing to wear his baseball cap, Goldberg said.

Decorating the stage was a banner that read "In Memory of Jose F. Gonzalez, Our Fallen Hero,' and there were two other banners filled with hand-written notes for the Marine.

At the school, Rodriguez was registered under the name Jose Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of his family's names.

Several of Rodriguez's friends stood on stage and sang to one of his favorite Spanish songs, and a few hugged each other and cried.

Roxana Mendoza, 17, who stood on stage with other Rodriguez friends, in an interview said she remembered Rodriguez as always smiling and trying to cheer her up.

"Every time he'd see me sad, he'd hug me and (ask) me, 'What's wrong?'' Mendoza said.

He believed school was important and would get upset with her if she was absent, she said.

His friends called him "Camaney' after a friendly character in a movie, she said.

Another friend, Yessica Hernandez, 18, said Rodriguez was the kind of person she could be around all the time.

"He was real friendly,' she said. "He was just a funny character, and he was trying to make people laugh 24/7.'

Rodriguez was close to his family and always worried how his actions would affect them.

Hernandez saw him before he left for Iraq, and he was excited and not worried about getting hurt, she said.

School Principal Linda Granillo, who organized the memorial, said the school may have a bigger memorial later for Rodriguez.

The Marine's family held a private funeral for him Thursday, with some school officials and about 50 Marines in attendance, she said.

Rodriguez's family resides in Norwalk but did not want to have their names released, and they also asked not to be contacted by the media, a school official said.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Patrick Lee Griffin Jr.

http://www.theithacajournal.com/news/stories/20030521/localnews/336489.html

'I'm going to do my best to keep his memory alive'
Griffin's widow recounts nearly lifelong relationship

By DIANA LaMATTINA
Journal Staff

DRYDEN -- Maintaining a delicate composure, Michelle Griffin told of the quiet departure her husband made for the Middle East so their young children's sleep would not be disturbed.

"We didn't want to wake the kids or anything, so we just said goodbye at the house. It was just that unusual," Griffin said. "I walked him out to the car...and, that was it."

Staff Sgt. Patrick Lee Griffin Jr., 31, was killed May 13 when the 728th Air Control Squadron took fire while about 100 miles southeast of Baghdad, according to a statement from the U.S. Air Force.

When the war in Iraq began, Griffin knew her husband would eventually serve overseas. As the dreaded day crept closer, Griffin recalled the emotions that built as he prepared to leave the night after Easter.

"We had a really long time to get used to the idea. It was just more emotionally grating back then, emotionally, you know," Griffin said. "In the past, he would just kinda get choked up. And this time, he was really, really upset."

In the Perkins Funeral Home Tuesday, Griffin sat next to Chaplain Ismael Rodriguez, who traveled with her husband to Kuwait.

She learned her husband had waited until the last minute to call before his group headed to Iraq because he knew it might be a couple of weeks before he could contact her again, she said.

During the past five years, Griffin said she watched several times as her husband prepared for deployment. She said they had a tradition of never saying 'Goodbye,' just 'See you later.'

"He called me that Sunday and told me that he was just calling to to say 'Goodbye'," Griffin said. "And I said, ah, 'Goodbye?' What do you mean? We don't say 'Goodbye.'

"And he said no, I just had to call you and say 'Goodbye.' And that I love you. Kiss my babies for me, and I'll talk to you when I can," Griffin said.

Griffin, formerly Michelle Heidt, remembers that from the time the Griffin family moved next door to her family in a McLean neighborhood, she and Patrick were somewhat inseparable. At first, she spent time with his sister Penny who was her age, 8, rather than Patrick, who was a year and a half older.

"I hated him for a long time. He was mean to me," Griffin said. "You know, just your normal neighborhood kid type stuff."

"I don't know if I ever knew that, you know, that we were going to be together forever," Griffin said. "I don't know. But from the beginning we were very close, we were best friends."

When she turned 15, they started dating; later, becoming engaged when she was 19.

"All through high school, we never broke up, never. Nothing," Griffin said. "We were always together, where he was I was."

According to Griffin, entering the military was something he had thought about since turning 18. At one point, the plan was that she would go to college while he entered the military, Griffin said.

"But when it came down to that, neither one of us could leave each other."

They married in 1997, when Griffin was 24. A year later, after moving to South Carolina, and having had enough of working odd jobs in construction and painting, he came home one day and said, "Guess what I did today."

Enlisting was a move, she said, that proved he wanted to do something to establish stability for his family and to better himself.

It was a move that he knew had risks, but he enlisted believing in his service and his country, Rodriguez said.

"He was a man of great character and integrity. He paid the ultimate sacrifice," Rodriquez said. "He would never back away from something that he thought was the right thing to do."

Patrick Griffin became a data systems technician, and was eventually stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida.

Michelle Griffin, who is considering returning to Tompkins County, described her husband as a very honest person who was very much in love with his kids. He had a sense of humor and was fun to be around, she said adding that he also enjoyed watching NASCAR.

"Our only argument was the race...having to sit there all day Sunday and watch," Griffin said. "He was the best father. He was the best of everything."

When notified of her husband's death, Griffin said she had mixed emotions.

"At first, I was angry. I didn't want anything to do with the Air Force," Griffin said. Now, she said the support of those in the Air Force made her realize how important that community is.

"They're having a scrapbook of sorts made, over there with the people he was with," Griffin said. "I just wanted pictures, just their thoughts. I'm going to do my best to keep his memory alive."

Army Master Sgt. William Lee Payne

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5898455.htm

Michigan soldier dies in Iraq
JAMES PRICHARD
Associated Press

A Michigan soldier who put off his retirement when the war started because of a sense of duty to the men who served under him has died in Iraq, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Monday.

Master Sgt. William Lee Payne, 46, who first joined the Army shortly after graduating from Otsego High School in 1975, died Friday in Haswah, Iraq. He was killed when an ordnance exploded as he examined it, the department said.

Payne's stepmother, Beverly Payne, contacted Monday at her home in Clarkston, Wash., said an Army liaison officer told the family a different version of what happened.

The family said a soldier in William Payne's unit took a box containing what were thought to have been dud munitions and tossed them against a tree, causing an explosion that killed Payne and injured three other soldiers.

"What happened was so stupid," Beverly Payne said, her voice cracking with emotion.

The Defense Department said the death remains under investigation.

William Payne was preparing to retire when the war in Iraq started but decided to wait, Beverly Payne said.

"He felt that he should go over there with his men that he worked with so long," she said. "He would have had 25 years (of military service) in September."

Payne was the oldest of four siblings, including a brother and two sisters, his stepmother said.

He is also survived by his wife, Karin, whom he met in Germany; two sons, John, 21, and Nicholas, 14; and his father, William O. Payne. His mother, Rosemary, died in an automobile accident about 20 years ago.

William Lee Payne had been stationed at Fort Riley in Kansas since 2001. He was also assigned there from 1995-98.

Christie Vanover, a civilian spokeswoman for the Army base, said her husband served with Payne and "knew him as a good leader, a strong first sergeant for the troops in his company.

"I know his death does touch the hearts of many," she said.

Most recently, Payne was the intelligence noncommissioned officer in charge for the 2nd Battalion, 70th Armor Regiment of the 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

He previously served as the first sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3rd Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

While in high school in Otsego, about 14 miles north of Kalamazoo, Payne wrestled and played football all four years, his stepmother said.

After serving an initial hitch, he left the Army and returned to the Kalamazoo area for 18 months or two years before re-enlisting and becoming a career soldier.

Marine Sgt. Kirk Allen Straseskie

http://www.jsonline.com/news/state/may03/142215.asp

A native son lost in Iraq
Family in Beaver Dam left to mourn Marine killed in rescue attempt

By MEG KISSINGER

Beaver Dam - John Straseskie had just begun breathing easier about his youngest boy being in Iraq when word came that the young Marine was dead.

Kirk Straseskie, 23, a sergeant with the B Company Marines out of Camp Pendleton, Calif., drowned Monday about 60 miles south of Baghdad as he tried to save fellow Marines whose helicopter crashed into a canal. He is the first Wisconsin native to die in the military operations in Iraq. Four Marines on the helicopter also died.

"I saw that car with those government plates pulling up in front of the house, and I knew," a red-eyed John Straseskie said Tuesday as he leaned up against the garage, drinking a beer and welcoming mourners. "I was on my bike on my way to the bank to put some money in Kirk's account. I just turned off the engine, and I went into the house and I said to Barb (his wife), 'Barb, Kirk's dead.' "

On Tuesday, a crisp, late-spring day filled with brilliant blue skies, lilacs bursting in bloom and the promise of lazy summer days to come, the Straseskie family held an impromptu wake for their beloved Kirk. Somehow, the news seemed that much more tragic against the backdrop of a classic American small town and all the wholesome goodness that such a place seems to offer: the fresh, green baseball fields, the ribbon of American flags that line the main street, the custard stand and movie theater where Kirk spent his boyhood, the yellow ribbons tied around the trees and the "Support Our Troops" sign in the yards.

Kirk, a former linebacker who played for the 1997 Beaver Dam High School team, was a young man so strapping and handsome that the Los Angeles Times ran a picture of him last month, shirtless and smoking a cigarette, to illustrate the swagger and seeming invincibility of the American troops stationed in postwar Iraq.

On the day after his death a half a world away, visitors steadily streamed into his father's backyard with nervous smiles, hugs, handshakes and whispers.

"So sorry."

"He's a hero."

"Kirk was a fighter, boy. With all those brothers, you can bet that he sure was."

Gov. Jim Doyle ordered American and Wisconsin flags to be flown at half-staff on the day of Kirk's funeral. His body was expected to be returned to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware next week, his father told The Associated Press.

Pride mingles with pain
That Kirk died trying to save others comes as some consolation to those who knew him best.

"I'm proud," said his father, who said he served with the Army National Guard for 26 years. "It hurts, but I'm proud."

Nick Neuman, Kirk's best friend from childhood, used to hold his breath every time he heard a news report about a Marine being killed.

"You figure the odds are with him, but you never know," he said.

Then the war ended. They said that peace was delicate and that there would be a lot of work left to do over there, but no one imagined this.

"We thought it was over," Neuman said.

When he learned how his friend died, Neuman cried, then he laughed.

"He wasn't the best swimmer, but he went in anyway because that's how he was."

Kate Klossner loved Kirk with the kind of passion that keeps a young woman up at night, dreaming of what kind of flowers her bridesmaids should carry and what color Kirk should paint their first living room.

"I was going to sneak out of the house last December, before Kirk went back to California, and we were going to get married," said Klossner, 20, who is studying at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to become a sign language interpreter. "But Kirk said, 'No. You want to have that big wedding.' So we were going to get married when he came home."

Klossner was at her job, flagging traffic with the road crew in town, when John Straseskie showed up at her door to deliver the news personally. Klossner's mother sat her down and told her as gently as you can deliver news like that. A few hours later, she gave Klossner the mail that arrived that day. A letter. From Kirk. Dated April 16.

"It's so weird because he never wrote about dying," Klossner said. "He said that he was not afraid to die. He was more afraid of coming home without some of his brother Marines. They were family to him."

Kirk wrote beautiful letters, Klossner said.

"These guys will all tell you what a macho guy he was. I saw him differently," she said. "He was so tender. He loved kids. His nieces and nephews especially. He wrote to me about them all the time."

Youngest of four boys
Kirk was the youngest of four Straseskie boys: 28-year-old twins, Chris, a laid-off factory worker who lives in Fond du Lac, and John Jr., a press operator with Quad/Graphics living in West Virginia; and Ryan, 25, who works at the Veterans Affairs Hospital in Madison. Ryan is with the Army National Guard and was on his way to the Middle East when the family got the news about Kirk.

"We've got him coming home now," said John.

Dianna Straseskie, the boys' mother, died of a heart attack 51/2 years ago.

"This family has had a lot of sadness," said Jan Helmer, Dianna's mother and Kirk's grandmother. "But we've had a lot of happiness, too."

Helmer said the boys kept her going in the years after her own daughter died.

"They are all good boys," she said. "Every one of them."

A tear rolled down her cheek when Chris told her that Kirk was the first Wisconsin native to die in the military operations in Iraq.

"Why him," she said, slowly shaking her head. "Why anyone?"

John Straseskie doesn't know when he will bury his son.

"I have to wait," he said, and stopped suddenly. He grabbed his knees and breathed deeply, then stood up and finished his sentence.

"I have to wait until I get his body back."

The Straseskies' house was a blur of people on Tuesday. Little children climbed on garbage cans. Carter, Kirk's 4-week-old nephew, slept in his car seat on the kitchen table. Reporters came and went.

The family stood around, telling stories about the monkey piles they used to have, when Ryan and Kirk and John and Chris would wrestle each other, a knot of little boys all scrapping on the living room floor. They spoke of last Christmas when Kirk was home and he and his hometown buddies Neuman and Ray Hosseini - the Three Amigos, everyone called them - broke open the Jack Daniels bottles and watched Adam Sandler movies, for old times' sake.

They laughed a little, and then there would be some awkward silence again.

John Straseskie rolled his eyes as reporters trickled in, clutching their microphones, wildly scribbling their notes.

"Tell us about Kirk."

"What year did he graduate?"

"What was he like?"

He answered every one of them without a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"I had a funny feeling that something like this would happen," he said. "I can't really explain it.

Someone wanted to know, is this too much for you?

"No," he said. "I need to do this for Kirk. Kirk deserves this."

Marine Captain Andrew David La Mont

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5923571.htm

Marine from Eureka among four killed in Iraq helicopter crash
LISA LEFF
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO - A Marine captain from Eureka with a passion for flying "died doing what he loved" when the transport helicopter he was piloting crashed in central Iraq, his brother said Thursday.

Andrew David La Mont, 31, was one of four Marines killed on a resupply mission Monday when their CH-46 Sea-Knight helicopter went down into a canal shortly after takeoff in Hillah, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. A fifth Marine drowned trying to save them.

"There were many facets to Andrew, but flying was his one big love," his brother Thomas La Mont said in a telephone interview after the Pentagon identified crash victims Thursday. "He was there because he wanted to be doing what he was doing. We are all very proud of his service to the country, our country."

All the servicemen who died were based at Camp Pendleton before their units were sent to Iraq. The cause of the crash is under investigation.

La Mont graduated from Eureka High School in 1988 and joined the Marines under a delayed entry program while he was a student at San Diego State University a decade ago. He spent the summer attending boot camp, and after graduating began his pilot training.

The youngest of nine children, La Mont was born at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, where his father, James, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, was stationed. He was the only one of the siblings to follow their father's path into the military.

"He was the baby of the family, literally," said Thomas La Mont, who is seven years older than his brother but closest to him in age.

As a Marine, Andrew La Mont served in Kosovo and was part of the helicopter detail that flew the first Marines into Afghanistan following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "He saw quite a bit of action over there," his brother said.

The La Mont family has two other members serving in the Middle East, including Andrew Lamont's nephew, Christopher, who was scheduled to return home from Iraq on Friday.

Andrew La Mont was not married and had no children. He is survived by his parents, James and Vivian La Mont of Eureka; his brothers Christopher La Mont and Thomas La Mont of Eureka, Jonathan La Mont of Santa Clara; and sisters Susan Irani of Maryland, Cynthia Silvers of Arizona, Kathleen Roberts of Virginia, and Mary Loudy of Florida.

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason William Moore

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/05/23/state1408EDT0076.DTL

San Marcos man among 4 Marines killed in Iraq helicopter crash

SAN MARCOS, Calif. (AP) --

Lance Cpl. Jason William Moore put his all into everything he did, and was especially committed to serving in the Marine Corps, according to his friends.

The 21-year-old from San Marcos was one of four Camp Pendleton-based Marines who died when their CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crashed into a canal south of Baghdad on Monday. A fifth Marine died trying to save the men.

Moore "was hard-core about the Marines," Sam Scolamieri, a longtime friend, told The San Diego Union-Tribune for a story published Friday. "He was an awesome guy, very honorable."

Another friend, Josh Wagner, described Moore as "gung-ho."

"He was the only person who complained when boot camp was over because he wanted more," Wagner said.

The other Marines killed in the crash were Capt. Andrew David La Mont, 31, of Eureka; 1st Lt. Timothy Louis Ryan, 30, of Aurora, Ill., and Staff Sgt. Aaron Dean White, 27, of Shawnee, Okla. The Pentagon said Sgt. Kirk Straseskie of Beaver Dam, Wis., 23, perished after he jumped into the canal to try to save the men.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

Moore's high school history teacher, Jim Beason, called the young man "a diamond in the rough."

"I felt like I lost my own son. ... Jason was a special guy. He was doing what he wanted and that's the good thing."

Moore, who was not married, last spoke to his family on Friday as he was preparing to come home. His sister, Michelle Moore, said he hoped to become a crew chief instructor at Camp Pendleton.

The 22-year-old woman said she regrets she did not tell her brother that he was about to become an uncle.

"He promised me that he'd be back. He promised that nothing would happen to him," she told the Union-Tribune.

Marine First Lt. Timothy L. Ryan

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/mercurynews/news/special_packages/iraq/5913188.htm

Illinois Marine dies in helicopter crash
Associated Press

NORTH AURORA, Ill. - A suburban Chicago native who joined the Marines to play in its drum and bugle corps died in a helicopter crash this week in Iraq, his mother said Wednesday.

First Lt. Timothy Ryan and three other Marines were on a resupply mission when their Ch-46 Sea-Knight helicopter crashed in a canal shortly after takeoff Monday afternoon.

Another Marine drowned trying to rescue the crew members from the canal about 60 miles south of Baghdad, according to a statement from U.S. Central Command.

Judi Ryan said Marines came to her door a little past midnight Tuesday to tell her that her son had died. His wife, Michelle, already had broken the news by phone from San Diego.

"He felt that it was the job that he was supposed to be doing," said Judi Ryan, who had exchanged e-mails with her 30-year-old son almost every other day since he was deployed in early February.

Timothy Ryan joined the Marines in 1997, just weeks after graduating from Illinois State University with a degree in music.

He played percussion in the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, an elite ensemble also known as The Commandant's Own. Judith Ryan said her son loved traveling with the corps to Paris and all over the United States.

Timothy Ryan graduated from the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School at Quantico, Va., and got his wings a year ago at Whiting Airfield near Pensacola, Fla. His mother said he always had been interested in flying, but she was surprised to learn he wanted to be an aviator.

"He said he would love to fly things, but when he was a kid he said he would like to be a chef, too, so who knew?" she said.

Friends and former teachers at West Aurora High School told The Beacon News in Aurora that Ryan made friends easily, whether playing in the marching band or building sets for school plays.

Will Lahvic, who was in the high school band with Ryan and followed him to Illinois State University, called his friend an "honest, straightforward guy" and talented musician.

"He was into drumming, but he fell in love with flying helicopters, too," Lahvic said. "He died doing something that he truly wanted to be doing."

Funeral services for Ryan are pending, his mother said.

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