STAFF WRITER

FAIRVIEW -- The war in Iraq hit home hard this week in this small Marion County community.

Lance Cpl. John T. "Tommy" Byrd II was one of eight Marines killed outside Fallujah, Iraq, on Saturday. According to an Associated Press report, the deaths occurred when a car bomb went off next to a truck southwest of Baghdad.

Byrd leaves behind his wife, Jessica Marie, who is pregnant with their first child. He also is survived by his parents and his sister.

Tommy Byrd's father, John Byrd Sr., said he last talked to his son on Oct. 23 as the Marine was preparing to go out in the field.

"We're just in limbo right now," Byrd Sr. said Tuesday.

The younger Byrd enlisted in the Marine Corps in January 2002.

"After 9/11, he wanted to be part of an elite organization and be somebody who could make a difference," Byrd Sr. said. "He decided to join the Marine Corps. That's more than I ever would've done."

One year later, at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry in California, he began his training to become a rifleman. That same month he was assigned to a Marine posting in Hawaii.

"Even without a scope he could hit anything. He was an expert marksman," Byrd Sr. said of his son.

While in the service, Tommy Byrd received the National Defense Medal, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal.

Although he did well as a Marine, Byrd Sr. said that marriage was what really changed his son.

"I think his marriage was a life-altering thing for him," Byrd Sr. said. "That's what made him a man. After that, there was a noticeable difference in his demeanor and the way he would speak about things."

He said his daughter-in-law is a big concern for his family right now.

Jessica Marie is expecting their first child on Jan. 28. Byrd Sr. is fixing up a smaller home behind his house for Jessica and her son.

"I have no idea how many people have called and stopped by," Byrd Sr. said of the community support. "When I do have time to work on the building again, I'll probably have a whole construction crew helping me."

HollyNoel Elizabeth Byrd, Tommy's 17-year-old sister, remembers him as a great brother.

She recalled a time when her brother, an avid video game player, had bought the Metal Gear Solid game, but didn't have a PlayStation memory card to save his progress. She said Tommy played the game for two days straight until he beat it without a memory card.

When her cousins Mary and Adam would come to the Byrds' house to play, it was Tommy who would lead rounds of hide-and-go-seek.

Byrd Sr. said when his son was younger and his family still lived in Fairmont, all the neighborhood children would want to be around Tommy and thought of him as a mentor.

"He was a special kid," Byrd Sr. said. "He didn't let anybody get the better of anybody else, and they all looked up to him for it."

A lover of motorcycles, Tommy Byrd owned a Suzuki GsXR 750.

Byrd Sr. said his son had never ridden a street bike before, but when he was in South Carolina he tested one, flipped off it and then decided he had to have one.

"He liked that thrill," Byrd Sr. said. "Part of his plans were to get another bike when he got out."

Crissy Pyles and her family are friends with the Byrds.

She remembers Tommy as a real quiet but friendly boy who would always wave when he drove past her house.

Pyles spoke with Tommy's mother, Nan Byrd, to try to console her.

"I told Nan, 'Tommy died a hero,' and she said, 'Tommy wouldn't want to be a hero,'" Pyles said.

Charlotte Varney of Fairview participates in the Reach Out to Soldiers program. She contributed to a care package of beef jerky and hard tack candy sent to Tommy.

"Our hearts go out to the Byrd family," she said. "There is a great sadness in the community."

Many businesses in Fairview are honoring the fallen Marine with black ribbons. Some of the ribbons also had yellow markings to remember soldiers still overseas.