Del. native, a 'true patriot,' chose to serve in the Marines

When the Marines were fighting in Iraq a year ago, Anthony P. Roberts was going to his senior prom in a black tuxedo and a white limousine.

How quickly a life can change.

On Tuesday, Roberts, 18, of Bear, Del., was himself a Marine, helping his Second Battalion of the Fourth Marine Regiment put down an uprising in the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

A lance corporal, he was among a dozen Marines killed in that desperate fight.

"He could have done anything he wanted, but he was adamant - he wanted to be a Marine," said his sister Linda Montague.

As a member of the Air Force Junior ROTC program at Middletown High School, Roberts had been a leader - a cadet first lieutenant in charge of 16 to 18 other members.

He had met with recruiters from several of the military services before graduating in June.

Whatever the Marines told him, "they must have been the most convincing," said Mike Conway, a retired chief master sergeant in the Air Force who instructs the ROTC class.

"I think he was searching to take on something that was honorable and made his family proud," Conway said.

After boot camp at Parris Island, S.C., Roberts returned to Middletown High to address the ROTC cadets.

Timothy Craven, 18, the cadet colonel in charge of the unit, remembered that "they asked him, 'Do you know you could possibly go to war?' He said he knew the dangers."

Jordanuwel Howard, 17, a cadet first lieutenant, said he asked Roberts: "Are you scared? And he said, 'No.' "

Conway described Roberts as the rare recruit who seemed not to care about the steady employment, decent pay, and educational benefits that military service offers.

"He only talked about serving his country. That's why I consider him a true patriot."

Roberts' home, along Route 896 in the Bear area, was quiet yesterday. Relatives gathered Wednesday night after news of his death. But yesterday, his sister was all alone in the big house where Roberts had lived with their mother, Emma. She was in Philadelphia for a doctor's appointment.

A Marine captain had just left. He told Montague that her brother's body was on its way from Iraq, so the funeral home would be able to pick it up at Dover Air Force Base. Burial is planned for Wednesday.

Roberts was the youngest of three, and the only boy. His father, a military veteran, died several years ago.

In a house full of pictures of Roberts, Montague took down an armload of his plaques and framed papers to show.

They included recognition as an ROTC leader, a drafting certificate from Delaware Technical Community College, and a President's Senior Service Award. The signature at the bottom read Bill Clinton.

Before going to Iraq, Roberts was briefly stationed in Hawaii. But his sister said he never expected a life of palm trees and ocean breezes.

When he got word he was shipping out for Iraq, "he was excited."

"Tony was a warrior, she said. "He was happy."