Marine Lance Cpl. Franklin A. Sweger

Died December 16, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of San Antonio; assigned to 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii; killed Dec. 16 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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San Antonio Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio Marine who loved science and dreamed of getting married and raising a family has been killed in Iraq, his family confirmed Saturday.

Lance Cpl. Franklin A. Sweger, 24, died Thursday as a result of enemy action in Iraq’s Anbar province, the Defense Department said.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Sweger was depressed when he first arrived in Iraq three or four months ago, said his mother, Susie Hernandez. But he was more upbeat when he last talked to them on the phone two weeks ago.

“Everything’s OK mom, don’t worry about me,” she recalled him saying. “I think I’m going to make it.”

Hernandez said her son joined the Marines in the spring of 2001 after having trouble in his first semester at Lamar University. He wanted to go back to school to study chemistry after completing his military obligations, she said.

“He loved science,” she told The Associated Press. “He studied chemistry and everything on his own since he was little. He wrote down all the definitions for everything.”

Sweger was devoted to his family and looked forward to starting one of his own, Hernandez said. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his stepfather, his father and stepmother, two stepbrothers and many aunts and uncles.

“He was always making everybody laugh,” Hernandez said. “He loved everybody. He was just so full of love and laughter and joy.”