Marine From Md. Is Killed In Iraq
'Non-Hostile' Death Under Investigation
By Ray Rivera
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 18, 2006; A11
 

A Marine from Crownsville serving his second tour in Iraq died Saturday from an apparent "non-hostile gunshot wound," the Defense Department said in a statement yesterday.

Cpl. Justin J. Watts, 20, was found dead at Forward Operating Base Haditha Dam in Haditha, the military said. His death is under investigation. The Defense Department did not provide any further details.

His family declined interview requests yesterday but in a statement said Watts was a loving son and husband and died "serving his country proudly."

"We are extremely proud of Justin, and we will miss him dearly," said his father, James A. Watts, choking up as he read the statement over the telephone.

Justin Watts grew up playing a variety of sports, including ice hockey, swimming, lacrosse and BMX bicycle racing, the family said.

He graduated from Old Mill Senior High School in Millersville in 2003, the family said. He joined the Marines that September.

In May 2004, he married his high school sweetheart, Nicole Seaton, in a backyard ceremony at his family's Crownsville home.

He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif., but his unit had been attached to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He completed his first tour in January 2005, said the family, which did not say when he returned to Iraq. Haditha is in Anbar province 125 miles northwest of Baghdad on the Euphrates River.