 | In Memoriam |  |
| In Memoriam | |
Cpl. Steven Gill
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
ROUND ROCK — When asked to describe the too-short life of Round Rock Marine Cpl. Steven Gill, his college professor pointed to Joshua 24:15: "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."
Love of family and Christian faith motivated the 24-year-old, killed last week by an improvised explosive device near Zaidon, Iraq, friends said. Gill fought with the San Antonio-based Marine Reserve 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, 4th Marine Division.
"Steven was very driven to do the right thing," said Jim McConnell, Gill's professor at Concordia University in Austin.
Gill, a 1999 graduate of Westwood High School, attended King of Kings Lutheran Church in Round Rock. He studied to be a youth minister at Concordia University in River Forest, Ill., and in Austin.
Gill's path to graduation and youth ministry seemed clear until the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when he began agonizing over whether to join the military, McConnell said.
"Steven was very torn," McConnell said. "He felt by joining the Marines, he could keep terrorism out of the U.S. He was very concerned about religious freedom."
In 2002, he signed up. Gill learned to scuba dive and parachute behind enemy lines to earn the elite designation of Recon Marine, said Maj. Humberto Rodriguez, commander of Gill's battalion.
"That speaks volumes in the military world," Rodriguez said. "That young man was many, many notches above the rest."
As a teenager, Gill earned a black belt in Kuk Sool Won, a Korean martial art. Each year he went on mission trips with the church to places such as an Indian reservation in Oklahoma, where he helped fix buildings.
In college, he helped lead groups for children and teens at the church, youth minister Rhonda Suckow said. Gill connected easily with the kids, she said.
"He wasn't one of those cardboard Christians," Suckow said. "He came in, and he was himself."
The children knew him as Scuba Steve, she said, after the year he dressed up in scuba gear to officiate ceremonies at the church's vacation Bible school.
In March, Gill embarked on his tour of duty in Iraq.
When Gill phoned Suckow a couple of months ago, he sounded energetic, fearless and miffed that he was sitting at base camp instead of being out on the front lines protecting the country, she said.
"He took the responsibility of laying down his life for others seriously," Suckow said, and he knew he might not make it home.
After hearing of his death, Suckow said, her Sunday school class talked about what Gill would tell them if he were there.
"He would be telling us to suck it up and quit crying," Suckow said. "He is with Jesus in heaven."
Gill's parents, Bill and Rose Gill, declined an interview request. He is also survived by his brother, James, a member of the Army National Guard.
Services will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at King of Kings Lutheran Church, followed by a procession and burial at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.