In Memoriam

Illinois Marine killed while serving in Iraq


Associated Press
 

ANTIOCH, Ill. - A 31-year-old U.S. Marine from northern Illinois was killed in Iraq when the Humvee he was riding in was struck by a bomb.

Sgt. Edward G. Davis III of Antioch was one of three soldiers killed in the attack on Friday in Iraq's Al Anbar province, according to the Defense Department. Davis was assigned to 3rd Assault Amphibian Battalion, 1st Marine Division, which is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

"He was a funny, funny guy," said his sister, Rachael Rodriguez of Winthrop Harbor. "Eddie could always make people laugh."

He joined the Marines in 1999 and relatives say he volunteered for duty in Iraq earlier this year.

About a week before he died, he ran into a 24-year-old cousin in Iraq who is also a Marine, Rodriguez said.

"They got a chance to talk for about an hour and a half," she said. "I think myself, personally, I had a false sense of security (about Davis) because my cousin was on his second trip to Iraq.

"I guess I thought because he had been safe there, it probably wasn't as bad as they were saying. I thought they were helping more than fighting," she said.

Rodriguez said her family is trying to come to terms with Davis' death.

"The next couple days are going to be really hard," she said Wednesday. "But I brought copies of all my pictures of Eddie, and we're all telling stories. We're trying to remember the good times and not focus on the tragedy."

Davis attended Warren Township High School in Gurnee. He is the third alum of the school to die in Iraq since the war began.

Other survivors include a wife and three children.