Marine Lance Cpl. John T. Sparks

Died October 8, 2010 Serving During Operation Enduring Freedom

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23, of Chicago; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Oct. 8 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.

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Sparks carried his weight and even more

The Associated Press

John Sparks found his comfort zone operating machine guns, so much that it prompted one comrade to say Sparks “loved” the weapons.

He also loved to drive snazzy cars, watch WWE wrestling and chow down on pizza, tacos or macaroni and cheese, according to his obituary.

“He always carried his weight, and when others couldn’t, John would pick up their slack,” his roommate, Cpl. Jeffery Holsey, said during a memorial in Afghanistan, according to an account of the event posted online by the 1st Marine Division.

“He was a selfless person,” Holsey said. “He always gave everything and never asked for anything in return.”

The military said the machine gunner from Chicago was killed Oct. 8 — days after his 23rd birthday — during combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He had enlisted in 2008 and was assigned to Camp Pendleton.

Sparks attended Chicago’s Paul Robeson High School, where he played football and ran track, and went on to Westwood College, where he studied criminal justice.

Survivors include his mother, father and brother.