Marine Cpl. Nathaniel T. Hammond

Died November 8, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Tulsa, Okla.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Corps Reserve, Chicago; killed Nov. 8 by enemy action in Babil province, Iraq.

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Marine killed in Iraq was living his dream

Associated Press

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Marine Cpl. Nathaniel T. Hammond realized his dream of military service and would not have regretted dying while serving in Iraq, family and friends in his Ozarks hometown said.

Hammond, 24, whose family lives in Brighton, was among three members of a Marine Reserve battalion killed Monday in Iraq’s Babil province, the Defense Department said. The deaths were attributed to enemy action, but details were not provided.

The eldest son in a family of five boys and one girl, Hammond graduated from Pleasant Hope High School in 1998 and joined the Marine Corps soon after, his brother Joshua Hammond said Tuesday.

Joshua Hammond described his brother as “always very happy” and “really, really family-oriented.”

“He really loved his nephews, and he had two nieces — one was born today — that he hadn’t seen,” Joshua Hammond said. He said their parents, Thomas and Deborah Hammond, were “taking it very rough.”

Nathaniel Hammond was a flight instructor at the College of the Ozarks before he was called to California to learn the local languages of Iraq, his brother said. He had trained with a Marine Reserve unit in Broken Arrow, Okla., before being assigned to the Reserves’ 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, which is based in Chicago.

Sgt. Jared Deckard, who returned to Fair Grove in July from a 14-month deployment in Iraq, recalled Hammond — his friend since the seventh grade — as one who always wanted to be in the military.

“Ever since I knew him, he wanted to be in the Special Forces,” Deckard said. Though Hammond had not joined the elite corps, “he died doing what he wanted to do and what he loved to do,” Deckard said.

Teachers in Pleasant Hope’s public schools remembered Hammond fondly.

“I think I’ve learned what the ultimate sacrifice means. ... We sacrificed a wonderful young man,” teacher Debbie Agee said. “He was the sweetest, he was a very quiet and kind and friendly kid, and very respectful.”

Joshua Hammond said his brother found a welcoming reception among civilians in Iraq.

“Nathan really believed what he was doing,” Joshua Hammond said. “If he had a choice to die, that was the way he wanted to die.”