Marine Cpl. Jeremy D. Allbaugh

Died July 5, 2007 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Luther, Okla.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died July 5 from wounds sustained while conducting combat operations in Qaim, Iraq. Also killed was Lance Cpl. Steven A. Stacy.

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Oklahoma Marine killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY — A Harrah Marine died in Iraq after being hit by a roadside bomb explosion, his family confirmed July 9.

Cpl. Jeremy Allbaugh, 21, was killed July 5 in the Al Anbar province of Iraq, his family said.

“He believed very strongly in what our country’s doing, and we had just talked to him Tuesday,” his mother, Jenifer Allbaugh, told The Oklahoman from her home in Whitehouse, Texas.

Allbaugh is the nephew of Joe Allbaugh, former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during President George W. Bush’s first term in office. A native of Blackwell, Joe Allbaugh served as Bush’s chief of staff while he was governor of Texas and later became part of Bush’s “Iron Triangle” of loyal Texas aides when Bush was elected president.

Jeremy Allbaugh is the first member of his Marine unit to die in combat in Iraq, his mother said.

The unit had been in Iraq about four months.

“They were doing good things over there, and we don’t see that in the news or media,” his mother said. “There’s a lot of progress being made, she said. “I wish more people would talk to our boys who are in it and not our politicians because they see it firsthand. They’re building schools and hospitals.”

Lt. Jason Allbaugh said his brother “always wanted to be in the military since I can remember. It’s something he wanted.”

Jeremy Allbaugh graduated in 2004 from Harrah High School, where he was a member of the school’s baseball team, said assistant principal Kenneth Riddle.

“He was a great baseball player, a great student and a great athlete,” Riddle said.

“We were just saying how fortunate we’ve been to have so many young men go overseas and serve in the military and return home, and then this happened.”

Funeral services are pending with Roberts and Son Funeral Home in Blackwell.

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Slain Marine laid to rest in Blackwell

The Associated Press

BLACKWELL, Okla. — The brother of an Oklahoma Marine killed last week in Iraq told mourners July 13 not to forget his younger sibling.

About 500 people attended funeral services Marine Cpl. Jeremy Allbaugh, 21, who died July 5 when a roadside bomb exploded near his vehicle in the Anbar province.

Allbaugh’s brother, Army 2nd Lt. Jason Allbaugh, recalled during the funeral that his brother asked him to do two things before he deployed to Iraq with his Marine unit.

“He said, Take care of Mom and Dad,’ and then he hesitated — ‘Remember me,’ ” Jason Allbaugh said.

Jeremy Allbaugh grew up in Harrah and graduated in 2004 from Harrah High School.

He was the nephew of Joe Allbaugh, a business consultant and former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during President Bush’s first term in office. He also was Bush’s campaign manager in the 2000 presidential race.

Jason Allbaugh said his brother meant the world to him.

“He was my best friend,” he said. “Rest easy, sleep well, little brother.”

The Rev. Jeff Koch, pastor of the First Christian Church in Blackwell, said Jeremy Allbaugh “paid the ultimate sacrifice so tonight we can sleep easy.”

After the service, the funeral procession took the long trip to the Blackwell cemetery. On one block along the route, children and adults waved American flags when the procession passed by.

After prayers at the cemetery, two Marines, wearing dress uniforms with white gloves, carefully folded the American flag that covered the casket and then handed the flag to Jon and Jenifer Allbaugh, the parents of the slain Marine.