Sgt. Morgan W. Strader, U.S.M.C. (KIA)

Crossville Marine killed in Fallujah known for dedication

By LEON ALLIGOOD
Staff Writer

He could be at his grandparents' home in rural Cumberland County today, instead of on a military transport jet crossing the Atlantic, his coffin shrouded by an American flag.

But Marine Sgt. Morgan W. Strader, 23, thought he was needed because there were a bunch of new guys in his unit, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Since he was a war veteran, having already spent six months in Iraq during the 2003 invasion, Strader thought he could be useful to the newbies.

''He said he'd feel like a traitor if he didn't go with his unit. He said, 'That's where I belong,' '' Estelle Morgan said of her late grandson.

''His dad and all of us, we tried to encourage him to go ahead and get out and go on to college. He thought about it, but he just said it didn't feel right.''

Strader, a 2000 graduate of Cumberland County High School, died last Friday during the Marine offensive on the central Iraq town of Fallujah, scene of many tremendous firefights in recent days.

''We're told he was going door-to-door, house-to-house, clearing it out. They said he was shot in the head. I'm saying, he died instantly. That's some comfort,'' Morgan said.

The Marines had been given the task of clearing the town of strike-and-run insurgents that had confounded American forces for months in the city west of Baghdad. Strader was among 38 American servicemen who died in the attack. He died Friday, just two days before military leaders declared a victory in the violent town.

Gary Strader, who lives near Indianapolis, said his son ''was put on the Earth'' to be a Marine.

''It was something he loved to do,'' he said of his son, who was the fourth of five siblings.

Strader was born in Indianapolis and lived there until he was about 12, when his parents divorced. Morgan said Strader's mother later remarried and after a few years moved to a cabin near his maternal grandparents, Lonnie and Estelle Morgan, in the Hebbertsburg Community of Cumberland County.

''Of course, even before they had moved here, he had spent every summer with us. He loved Tennessee. This was his home,'' the grieving grandmother said.

At Cumberland County High, Strader was on the track and wrestling teams.

His former high school teacher Angela Bradley remembered him with fondness. Bradley, who now teaches at Ooltewah High near Chattanooga, said she had spent the weekend crying and laughing.

''He had the sharpest sense of humor. He was so funny,'' Bradley said. His favorite joke of late had been: ''Marines don't die, they just go to hell and regroup.''

She laughed, followed by a catch in her voice, indicating she was near tears.

''But he had determination, too. He was just relentless when he decided to do something. He would not give up,'' Bradley said.

His former teacher said she is grateful to Strader for making a connection with her son, Alex, now 12.

''He would treat him like a little brother. He'd send things to him like camouflage paint. We'd set up the tent in the back yard and Alex and his friends would camo their faces. I took pictures and sent them to Morgan in Iraq the first time he was there,'' she said.

Faith and values were also important to him, remembered the Rev. Ryan Bennett, Strader's youth pastor for a year at Crossville United Methodist Church.

''He was a person of high moral character. That's what I remember most about him. He was someone you could depend on,'' said Bennett, now pastor of Pleasant View United Methodist Church in Cheatham County.

Said Bradley: ''He had the strongest principles and convictions that you could imagine. He held himself to such a high standard.''

Estelle Morgan said she had last heard from her grandson, who is named for her husband's family name, several weeks ago. If the phone rang after midnight, it was probably him, she said.

''Cause it was light over there. He said that was the only time he could call.''

Sgt. Strader will be buried at Hebbertsburg Community Cemetery sometime in the next week in a plot his grandparents picked out.

''I think he'll like it,'' she said.