Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas D. Larson

Died November 9, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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19, of Wheaton, Ill.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 9 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Wheaton Marine dies in Iraq

Associated Press

WHEATON, Ill. — A 19-year-old DuPage County Marine was killed by hostile fire around the Iraqi city of Fallujah, where U.S. troops have mounted an offensive against insurgents, his grandfather said.

Patrick O’Sullivan said his grandson, Lance Cpl. Nicholas Larson, always wanted to be a career Marine, enlisting even before he graduated from high school last year.

O’Sullivan said the military came to Larson’s Wheaton home Wednesday to tell the family he had died, but could provide no more information about his death.

Larson was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 1st Marines based in California and had been in Iraq since June.

“He was doing what he wanted to do. He was a Marine — and a good one,” said O’Sullivan, a World War II veteran and village clerk in the Chicago suburb of Hillside. “The best we can do for Nick is pray for him and pray for his buddies that they get out safe.”

O’Sullivan said he communicated with Larson through e-mail and had last heard from him about a week ago. In the e-mail, Larson said he was doing OK and was safe.

Larson is survived by his mother, father and younger sister, O’Sullivan said.