Marine Gunnery Sgt. Edward T. Reeder

Died August 21, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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32, of Camp Verde, Ariz.; assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Aug. 21 in a non-combat-related vehicle incident in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Fallen Marine loved helping others, relative says

Associated Press

PHOENIX — A Marine who grew up in Arizona and died in a vehicle accident in Iraq loved helping others and planned to work as a firefighter or paramedic after leaving the military, his great-aunt said Wednesday.

Gunnery Sgt. Edward T. Reeder, 32, died Saturday in Iraq’s Anbar province after the Humvee he was riding in flipped over and ejected him after it was struck by a tank, his family said.

Reeder, who is survived by a wife and two children, was born in Flagstaff and grew up on northern and central Arizona ranches. He and his family lived in North Carolina.

Pat Potter, Reeder’s great-aunt from Prescott, said Reeder loved animals and recalled a pet raccoon he had when he was 10.

“The raccoon chased the cat down the chimney, and they had soot all over his house, and he had to clean up all the soot,” Potter said. “My favorite memory is of him and his raccoon.”

After he graduated from high school in Camp Verde in 1990, Reeder joined the Marine Corps.

“I think he decided that was what he wanted to do,” Potter said. “His father was a cowboy, and maybe the military was a way out of ranch life.”

He met his wife in North Carolina, where he was stationed, and they had two children — a 10-month-old son and a 5-year-old daughter.

When he wasn’t serving overseas, Reeder was a volunteer paramedic for fire departments in North Carolina.

Reeder was assigned to Headquarters and Service Battalion, 1st Force Service Support Group, I Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Pendleton, Calif. He taught other Marines how to shoot weapons and he has also worked as a supply officer, Potter said.

Reeder had served in Bosnia, Liberia, Somalia and in the Persian Gulf. He also had earned a dozen personal awards that include the Armed Forces Service Medal, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.

Reeder also is survived by his mother, father and a sister.