LCpl. Richard P. Slocum (NCD)

(reprinted from The-Signal.com, November 3, 2004)

He Was Born a Soldier’
Friends, family pay final respects to local Marine killed in a military vehicle crash in Iraq.

11/3/2004
Judy O'Rourke [Signal Staff Writer]


A local Marine who died in Iraq was remembered Tuesday as a charismatic leader who looked out for his friends.
    “His presence glowed,” said Ryan Annett, honorary pall bearer at Lance Cpl. Richard P. Slocum’s funeral. “He was a leader.”
    The 19-year-old Saugus High School graduate died Oct. 24 after he was thrown from a Humvee, which overturned after swerving to avoid a barricade in the road. The crash, which happened near Abu Ghraib, is being investigated.
    More than 800 people — half of whom were Slocum’s peers — attended a memorial service held at Grace Baptist Church, where Slocum’s flag-draped coffin rested beneath a halo of floral arrangements.
     “Ricky is looking down, and I know he would be like, ‘Wow! Party!’” said his father, Bob Slocum, whose wife, Kay, grasped his arm as he read a letter to his son. “You were bright, stubborn and argumentative from your early years. We wouldn’t have changed a thing.”
    He said he was proud of how his son turned his life around, transforming from a child to a man during Marine training. His reminiscence of all the “pretty girls” attracted to his son, and his admission that “We know you didn’t tell us everything,” drew a resonating laugh from the solemn crowd.
    Men and women dabbed their eyes with tissues, and coughs and stifled cries punctuated the nearly two-hour service.
    Marines escorted Slocum’s casket from the desert in Iraq to the tented patch of grass at Eternal Valley Memorial Park and Mortuary.
    A soft wind rifled through the trees as Marines performed a 21-gun salute. A bagpipe wailed “Amazing Grace,” and a flock of white doves released into the sky flew in a tight pattern until they disappeared from view.
    “(Slocum) always stuck up for everybody, always stood up if anybody needed anything,” said Chris Yazgulian, 19, a friend since junior high school. “He’d be right there for them. Everybody loved him.”
    A family friend who coached Slocum and his own son in baseball reminisced about a particular game during junior high school.
    “It was a close game; both were undefeated teams,” said Peter Benesch, a battalion chief for the Los Angeles County Fire Department. “Their pitchers hit a couple players. Ricky was up. The pitch hit (him). He charged the mound and everybody from both dugouts (joined in). It was his claim to fame — the bench-clearing brawl.”
    The game was stopped, and there were consequences. But that was Slocum to the “nth degree,” Benesch said affectionately.
    Slocum was involved with church youth groups, and friends remembered his warmth.
    “He was the most loving person,” said Jessica Oliver, 17. “It was amazing. He had a lovely voice. He was so cute when he sang. And whenever you were scared, you wanted Ricky around. He would take care of you.”
    Brittany Buongiorno, 16, said, “He was gorgeous. He had the prettiest smile. He was an amazing, kind person. He influenced people to be a better person, a better Christian. He made everyone feel like they were so special.”
    A young man who said he was Slocum’s best friend, but asked not to be named, became a private in the Army after enlisting in military service with Slocum.
    The man summed up his friend’s life: “He was born a soldier.”