LCpl. Jason Redifer

(reprinted from the Richmond Times Dispatch, February 3, 2005)

Idealism was spur for fallen Marine

But Iraq conflict tempered optimism of Stuarts Draft man

STUARTS DRAFT Jason Redifer transformed himself from a mischievous, bull-riding cowboy into a Marine so that he could serve his country in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, his mother said.

Lance Cpl. Redifer, 19, left for Iraq last summer, full of optimism for his chance to change the world for the better, his mother, Rhonda Winfield, said yesterday.

But his optimism became tempered as time went on, she said. During their last phone conversation, at 4:30 a.m. Monday, Winfield's usually upbeat son sounded subdued and moody as he described the mission he was about to go on. She sensed it was dangerous, though he tried to reassure her that he would be OK.

When Winfield returned home from work that afternoon and saw two Marines waiting for her at the family's dairy farm, she knew the news wasn't good.

About two hours after she had talked to her son, he was killed when the Humvee he was driving hit an improvised explosive device, Redifer's family said. Two other Marines died in the attack. According to the Defense Department, they were killed in the Babil province south of Baghdad where they were conducting a security operation.

. . .

Growing up, Redifer was known as a prankster who wore 10-gallon hats, big, shiny belt buckles and cowboy boots. He had a way with horses and a calling -- though not much of a talent -- for riding bulls, Winfield recalled.

Her son's fondness for jokes, pranks and the outlandish once led him to ride his horse, Punk, to a drive-through at the Stuarts Draft Arby's restaurant a couple of years ago, she said.

Dissatisfied with public school in the eighth grade, he was one of the first males admitted to the private, formerly all-female Stuart Hall school in nearby Staunton, she said.

Redifer wore his cowboy boots beneath his preppy khakis during high school. With Stuart Hall's assistance, he worked to pay his own tuition, his mother said.

The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington inspired him to join the military. His mother was skeptical, but he managed to shed his cowboy persona for the Marine regimen and spit shine after graduation in May 2003, Winfield said.

Family and friends last saw him June 13, and he deployed for assignment in Iraq on July 4, she said.

. . .

The conflict complicated Redifer's idealism, Winfield said.

He was a sniper who had to look into the eyes of enemies before killing them. He was heartbroken to witness Iraqi children numb to the atrocity and carnage around him. They reminded him of his beloved, school-aged brothers -- Courtland, 8, and Carter 6, she said.

He sometimes tried to avoid sleep because of the nightmares that haunted him, Winfield said.

"He knew that the fight to defend freedom was the right fight, but he thought the rest of the story would have to be told in history books," she said.

Redifer had been scheduled to leave Iraq next week to return home for a four-week leave, Winfield said.

Instead, yesterday, his mother was surrounded by family and well-wishers awaiting the arrival of her son's body. The hard part of the grief, she believes, will be trying to move on after Redifer is laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery.

"There's nobody in the world who can tell me what it will be like to live without Jason," she said, her voice cracking.