Death of Lejeune Marine hits Kansas town hard

 Redfield, Kan., population 140, isn't home to a large military base, but war hit Redfield particularly hard Easter weekend.

The town, about 90 miles south of Kansas City, was still recovering from the loss of Army Spc. David "Butch" Hall, who died February in Afghanistan, when news came this weekend that another of its sons, Camp Lejeune Marine Cpl. Michael R. Speer, 24, died Friday during combat in the Iraqi province of Al Anbar.

The two grew up two blocks apart.

Speer, an infantryman, was the first Camp Lejeune Marine to die in Iraq this year. He was killed in action by gunshot wounds, said Gunnery Sgt. Kristine Scarber, a spokeswoman for Headquarters Marine Corps. Scarber said Monday that Speer might have been on his second tour in Iraq because he had received the Presidential Unit Citation.

Twenty-six Camp Lejeune Marines died in Iraq in 2003.

Speer was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.

"It's a real blow for the people here," the Rev. Beverly Meadows, of Redfield United Methodist Church, said of Speer's death.

During Easter services, parishioners tried to deal with the loss the best they could, she said.

"The folks on Sunday were really quite saddened by it," Meadows said.

Neighbor Gary Judd remembered Speer as an athletic young man who lettered in football all four years at nearby Uniontown High School.

"He was a pretty nice kid to know and real nice kid to have as a neighbor," he said. "What a terrible loss to have for our community."

Sometime after graduating from high school in 1997, Speer moved to Davenport, Iowa, where he entered the Marine Corps in January 2001.

In August, he married Eliza Kate Davenport, of Kingsport, Tenn.

About 240 students go to Uniontown High School, and 20 of its alumni are serving overseas in the military.

Social life in Redfield centers on the church and the Ruritan Club, Meadows said. Judd described Redfield as a close-knit community where people know and take care of each other.

"It's more or less a big family type (of community)," he said. "We all look out for one another and take care of each other."

Judd said he was also friends with Hall, the soldier who died in Afghanistan, and his family.

"It's quite a loss for the community to lose one, but when we lose two so close, it's really tragic," he said. "It's really hard to take."