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A Marine to the core dies in Iraq
Jefferson Twp. lieutenant who aspired to the Corps from his earliest days killed in gunfight
Friday, April 09, 2004
BY SALLY GOLDENBERG AND MIKE FRASSINELLI
Star-Ledger Staff
Growing up in the shadow of the Picatinny Arsenal, Lt. John Thomas Wroblewski liked to play soldier on the stationary warplanes, dreaming of a day when he could steer military equipment of his own.
That lifelong dream ended Tuesday when the Marine from Morris County died of wounds suffered in a gun battle in Iraq, just 10 days shy of his 26th birthday.
Wroblewski had talked about becoming a Marine throughout his life, and his post-Sept. 11 anger bolstered his will to join the Corps.
"He wanted to do something," his father, John Wroblewski Sr., said between sobs yesterday from the family's house in Jefferson Township. "We're a very patriotic family and we love this country. We raised him like that ... He just wanted America to be free again."
Fighting with the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, Lt. Wroblewski was shot in the head by insurgents during an uprising in Ramadi. He was among a dozen U.S. Marines killed during one of the deadliest days of fighting in Iraq since the collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime.
Lt. Wroblewski left behind his wife of nine months, Joanna, who lived with him at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
"He died saving his Marines," she said last night. "If he was going out, he was going out fighting. He always told me that if he was on the battlefield, he was the last one to leave. His Marines come first and he was going to get them home to their families."
On Wednesday night, Marines came to the door to tell the family that Lt. Wroblewski wouldn't be coming home.
"When I opened that door, they had to say nothing," the father said. "Once you know that your son is in harm's way ... My heart would break anytime I heard about any soldier that was injured or killed. When your son's there, there's not a minute that goes by that you don't think about it."
Friends and family members visited the grieving, close-knit family at their Michelle Road home yesterday, bringing platters of food and drinks.
In a home where the family has a white pillow with the name of every immediate family member etched in red, photos of Lt. Wroblewski and his three brothers decorate the house. One photo of Lt. Wroblewski -- the oldest son -- with his troops hangs prominently on the refrigerator under a red magnet with the inscription, "Marine Mom."
An American flag hung at half-staff in front of the family garage yesterday, alongside a black plaque with Lt. Wroblewski's name and rank etched in.
Each brother had a story about how their big brother inspired them.
They described their brother as tough, physically and mentally. He even built his own pull-up bar in his sprawling back yard so he could work out.
"He was a phenomenal athlete," said Mark Cieslak, a friend whose father was a football coach of Lt. Wroblewski. "The fact that he got shot and lived a day after that was unbelievable."
Number 31 at Jefferson High for football and baseball, he played outside linebacker in the fall and second base in the spring.
Childhood friend Mike Hoffman, who grew up across the street from the Wroblewski house, described an idyllic neighborhood that teemed with up to 30 youngsters who rode bikes together and played hide-and-search games like manhunt.
And "J.T.," the nickname by which Lt. Wroblewski became known throughout his life, was friends with all of them.
"He got along with everybody -- everybody," Hoffman said.
Any boy would enjoy playing pilot inside a military helicopter or making the rat-tat-tat of an imaginary machine gun while climbing the wings of an old warplane.
But John Wroblewski Sr. noticed that for the oldest of his four sons, their family's periodic summer visits to see the aircraft and meet armed forces at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County was much more than playtime.
"All my kids liked it, but John took a special interest," the father recalled. "You could see the gleam in his eye."
Those boyhood trips to the nearby armaments facility helped steer the youngster on a lifelong journey to wear his country's flag and operate military equipment of his own.
Even as a youngster, J.T. talked about being a Marine and soaked up World War II movies and books.
He began hitting other kinds of books, too, studying at the County College of Morris and Ursinus College in suburban Philadelphia before graduating from Rutgers College in May 2002 with a bachelor of science degree in exercise science and sports studies.
He got his officer training in Quantico, Va., pursuing the only career he ever really wanted.
He was deployed to Iraq the day after Valentine's Day and went to Ramadi on March 10. He told family members that he was well-trained and "couldn't wait" to fight in Iraq.
He told them not to be nervous.
"He was the ultimate Marine," his father said. "He was a Marine for life."
Staff writer Kate Coscarelli contributed to this report.
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