In Memoriam

Marine from East Peoria dies from wounds sustained in Iraq


Associated Press
 

EAST PEORIA, Ill. - Gunnery Sgt. Terry W. Ball, a Purple Heart recipient from East Peoria who was injured after warning others in his unit to stand back from an object that turned out to be a bomb, died while being treated for his wounds, relatives said Monday.

Ball, 36, was wounded on June 12 in Al Karmah, Iraq. Medical officials were preparing to move him from a hospital in Bethesda, Md., to a facility in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 5 when his blood pressure suddenly dropped and he died, said his mother, Sharon Ball.

"He was awake, he was able to mouth words and he was getting better," she said. "They don't know what happened."

President Bush visited Ball, a married father of three, at the Bethesda hospital on July 31 to give him his Purple Heart, relatives said.

Sophie Ball said her nephew was well-respected by family members and fellow Marines.

"He knew when to be serious and he knew when to kid around ... what a loss," she said.

Ball became interested in the Marine Corps as a teenager, while attending East Peoria High School and playing for its football team.

As a Marine, Ball had served in Operation Desert Storm and in Kosovo. He was assigned to the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Ball and his unit were driving along a road they often patrolled on June 12 when he spotted something unusual. After he got out of the vehicle, he approached the suspicous-looking object and told his unit to stand back, Sharon Ball said.

"He saw something in the road that didn't look right, and when he walked up to see what it was they detonated it," she said.

Military officials told relatives that Ball's actions prevented others in his unit from being wounded, Sharon Ball said.

"Because he held his men back and walked up there, someone told his wife he had saved his unit's life," she said.