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In Memoriam
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Cpl.
Dustin Derga
(reprinted from Ohio.com,
June 30, 2005)
At peace with loss Family is certain
Marine in heaven
`I realized that he was home safe,
with God,' reservist's father says
By Jim Carney Beacon Journal staff writer
There is a sense of calm and serenity in the
faces of Bob and Marla Derga.
The father, who less than eight weeks ago lost
his son, Marine Cpl. Dustin A. Derga, said he and Marla Derga, Dustin's stepmother, are at
peace.
They believe the 24-year-old reservist is in
heaven.
The Lake Township couple got word of his death
on Mother's Day and have since made peace with the news.
``I realized that he was home safe, with God,
the ultimate home,'' said the 50-year-old father, who moved to Stark County with his wife
in fall 2003.
Dustin Derga, who worked for Columbus
Processing as a steelworker in Columbus before being deployed in Iraq, dreamed of starting
a bar with some friends in Florida when he got home.
He had been a firefighter with the Basil Joint
Fire Districts in Fairfield County and was with the Marine's Lima Company out of Columbus,
a unit that was called up at the same time in January as Akron's Marine Reserve unit,
known as Weapons Company. Both units are part of the 3rd Marine Battalion, 25th Marine
Regiment, 4th Division.
His mother, Stephanie Derga, and his sister,
Kristin Derga, live in Pickerington.
Bob and Marla Derga said they gave Dustin a
Bible and an MP3 player at Christmas, along with an MP3 file of the New Testament.
They hoped he would read the Bible in Iraq.
From conversations with people who had spoken
with Dustin when he was in Iraq, they believe he had been reading it.
They tell the story of a dream that a female
relative of Marla Derga's sister had three weeks before she died.
In that dream, the Dergas said, the woman was
greeted by a Marine in fatigues she did not recognize. The Marine then took her hand and
led her to heaven. The woman in Texas died one hour after Dustin died May 8.
``We really feel absolute assurance that
Dustin is in heaven,'' said Marla Derga, a 44-year-old artist.
On the Friday after Dustin died, the Dergas
went to Port Columbus International Airport to be there when his body arrived and to
accompany him back to Pickerington.
Dustin's remains were flown back with the
remains of Army Pfc. Nicholas Messmer, 20, of Franklin, who died the same day as Dustin,
but in another part of Iraq.
During the procession to Pickerington, there
was a hail storm that seemed to follow the line of cars behind the hearse, Bob Derga said.
It was another sign from Dustin, his father
said.
In the last e-mail he had sent from Iraq, on
May 2, he wrote of a strange hail storm that fell on his unit of Marines.
In the days after Dustin died, the Dergas
heard the story of an eyewitness who was with Dustin when he died.
They were told Dustin said these words before
he stopped breathing:
``Grandma, grandma, grandma... ''
Dustin's great-grandmother, Loretta Fryman --
his mother Stephanie's grandmother -- often baby-sat for him as a child, Bob Derga said.
He called her grandma.
Marla Derga said she believes this was God's
way of taking Dustin into heaven.
``Dustin was such a new Christian that if
Christ himself had come and said, `Come on, we're going,' he would have gone, `Who are
you? I know your face from pictures but who are you?' '' Marla Derga said.
``I think in God's goodness and love, he sent
somebody that Dustin would be very comfortable with and trust to make that transition.''
This week, the Dergas received Dustin's
personal gear from Iraq, including boots and uniforms.
The MP3 player, Bible, a global positioning
device and a digital camera were not among those items that arrived.
Bob Derga believes this is more evidence his son
took the Bible on his last mission and was reading it before he was shot in the back.
The Marine unit he was with continued the mission
after Derga's death, and his gear remained on the vehicle with the other Marines, Derga
speculated.
Three days later, four other Marines from his unit
died when their amphibious assault vehicle struck an explosive device.
Derga believes his son's Bible and the other items
were destroyed in the May 11 explosion.
Since Dustin's death, the Dergas have attended six
other funerals or calling hours.
They went to the funerals of three Marines from
Lima Company and 1st Lt. Aaron Nicholas Seesan, 24, of Massillon. They attended calling
hours for a Marine who was attached to Lima Company. The day of Dustin's funeral, they
attended calling hours for Messmer.
The Dergas also have gained and given support and
compassion in meetings with the parents of the four other soldiers from Stark County
killed in Iraq.
A pirate flag that Bob Derga gave his son was on
the vehicle the unit was traveling in when Dustin died. The flag was recovered by a Marine
in the unit and will come home with them when they return in the fall.
Derga has bought several more of the flags and has
had family of Lima Company members sign them. He will send them to the unit in Iraq.
Derga, senior manager of global data management
and engineering change planning at Diebold, said he and his wife believe God had a reason
for taking Dustin when he did.
``He had accepted God,'' Derga said. ``He had
fulfilled a lot of his dreams... It was the perfect time to take him.''
Derga said he believes God saw Dustin as an apple
on a tree that had ripened early and grabbed him when he could.
``God snatched it before it fell off the tree,''
Derga said. ``God has a reason for everything,'' he added. ``We don't always understand
it... It wasn't my timing. It was his timing.''