LCpl. Daniel McVicker

Alliance Marine killed in Iraq
Lance Cpl. Daniel McVicker dies when blast hits Humvee
By Richard S. Koonce
Beacon Journal staff writer

Kristen Blackwood was driving home Friday when she checked her voice messages and discovered that her mother had left her one to call immediately.

When Blackwood called back, she was devastated by the news her mother had to share.

Lance Cpl. Daniel McVicker, a friend and fellow 2003 graduate from West Branch High School near Alliance, had been killed Thursday when a roadside bomb hit the Humvee he was driving in western Iraq.

``I couldn't believe something like that would happen to him. He was always so fun, friendly and nice to everyone,'' said Blackwood, 20. ``What I'll remember most is that it seemed like he was always smiling and really great to be around.''

McVicker, 20, of Alliance, had joined the Marines shortly after graduating from high school as a way of doing his part to serve America in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to his father, Mark McVicker, who was quoted in an Associated Press story.

``He truly felt like he wasn't contributing unless he was over there,'' Mark McVicker said.

McVicker's father said the last e-mail he received from his son indicated that he would be involved in a major military operation and probably would not be able to contact his family in October.

The death of the Alliance Marine was the second local military death in a week.

Paratrooper and medic Sgt. Bryan W. Large, 31, of Cuyahoga Falls, died Monday along with two other paratroopers in a roadside bombing in Al Haqlaniyah, Iraq.

Large had served one tour of duty in Afghanistan and was serving his second tour in Iraq when he was killed, a spokesman for his family said.

Funeral arrangements for Large, who was with the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division, are pending at Redmon Funeral Home in Stow.

Blackwood said Daniel McVicker was involved in school activities, and was one of the school mascots, a warrior chief. She became a friend while performing with McVicker in the high school show choir and various musicals.

``I have a lot of pictures from the musicals we did in high school, and it's real upsetting to look at them,'' Blackwood said.

McVicker died from injuries from an ``improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations'' against insurgents near Al Qaim, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

McVicker was assigned to Combat Service Support Detachment 21, 2nd Force Service Support Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force at the Marine Corps Air Station in Cherry Point, N.C.

As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, McVicker was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2. He was a member of the Combat Logistics Batallion Security Company and had been in western Iraq for slightly more than a month.

McVicker was honored Friday night by the color guard at the football game between West Branch High School and Alliance.

West Branch Superintendent Scott Weingart said students at the school will be offered grief counseling, according to the Associated Press.

In addition to his father, McVicker is survived by his mother, Carrie Misner; sister, Mollie; brother, Eddie Ricci; stepmother, Irma McVicker; and stepfather, Bill Misner, all of Alliance. Funeral arrangements are pending.