 |
In Memoriam |
 |
|
In Memoriam |
|
LCpl. Richard James
By JAMES MERRIWEATHER
The News Journal
05/16/2006
Rick James didn't really enjoy his first tour of duty in Iraq. Too slow, he told his parents on his return home to Seaford.
"Lots of patrolling, waiting and sitting around," his mother, Carol James, said of the third of her four children.
But there was plenty of action the second time around.
"I think he was happy this time," Carol James said. "He was shooting, blowing things up -- that's what he was trained to do. That's all he ever wanted to do, and he was thrilled when he was doing military duty."
On Saturday, the action caught up to the 20-year-old Marine lance corporal, who was a graduate of Seaford Christian Academy. He was shot in the head in an exchange of gunfire with insurgents near Ramadi in northern Iraq and died after being transferred to a nearby medical facility.
His death marks the second time this month that a Marine from Seaford was killed by fighting in Iraq. On May 6, 21-year-old Cory Palmer died of injuries suffered when his Humvee was hit by an explosive near Fallujah. A funeral with full military honors for Palmer will be held at 3 p.m. Sunday at St. John's United Methodist Church in Seaford.
Carol James said her son's remains would be sent to Dover Air Force Base, but she didn't know when they would arrive.
Amy Walls, spokeswoman for the city of Seaford, said "Our flags are still at half-staff, and we plan to keep them that way through both funeral services."
Eleven Delawareans have been killed in combat in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. That number includes a third Seaford man -- 21-year-old Army Spc. Ryan P. Long, who was killed in a suicide bombing in April 2003.
According to his mother, Rick was a machine gunner attached to 1st Platoon, Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Marine Corps representatives told his family that he was providing security from an "overwatch position" in a building when the structure was hit by small arms fire.
Officials at Seaford Christian Academy did not return calls Monday, but Carol James said teachers who knew Rick "are having a rough time over there today." She said a steady flow of well-wishers was a source of comfort for her and her husband, Kenneth "Jake" James, and their 17-year-old son, Jonathan, a senior at Seaford Christian.
"We've probably had 200 people come through here," Carol James said Monday from her home. "All of my son's senior class is sitting outside with him now. They brought him lunch.
"Everybody knew Rick. He never was one to sit in the corner. He made himself known to everybody. He was a real character."
The James' have two other children, Tina, 24, and Jeffrey, 22.
Carol James said Rick -- formally Richard Z. James -- joined the Marines on the day after he turned 18 in 2004. He had wanted to join a year earlier, but, his mother said, "we didn't want to sign him up."
The Pentagon publicly announced James' identity and the circumstances of his death late Monday afternoon, but Carol James said she got the news from two Marines who drove up to her home about 5 p.m. Saturday.
"They didn't have to say anything," she said. "I knew before they got out of the car."