Marine 1st Lt. Travis L. Manion

Died April 29, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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26, of Doylestown, Pa.; assigned to 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died April 29 while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Doylestown Marine killed in combat in Iraq

The Associated Press

DOYLESTOWN, Pa. — A Marine officer from Doylestown who was killed in combat in Iraq was a dedicated supporter of the troops’ mission, his family said April 30.

First Lt. Travis L. Manion, 26, died April 29 in combat in Anbar province. He was serving his second tour in Iraq, embedded with an Iraqi army unit that he was leading and training.

“He was so sure what he was doing over there was right,” said his mother, Jannette Manion. “He called the night Bush made his speech about the troop surge and told us, ‘That’s exactly what we need.’ His biggest concern was that the politicians over here were giving life to the insurgents by putting the military and president down.”

His father, Tom Manion, said he was proud of how his son would “give his all” in life and in the military.

“He was a kid with a big heart, never had a bad word for anyone. He was all heart; that is who he was,” Tom Manion said. “We’ve had calls from all over the country, from people who said they loved him like a brother; he really touched people like that.”