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- The People Behind The Sacrifice
Marine Lance Cpl. Lawrence R. Philippon
Died May 8, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom
22, of Hartford, Conn.; assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed May 8 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Qa’im, Iraq.
Marine killed in Iraq asked to serve on front lines
Associated Press
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — As a member of the Marine Corps Color Guard, Lance Cpl. Lawrence Philippon carried the flag at the funeral for President Reagan.
But his heart was in Iraq, where he was killed Sunday by small-arms fire. His father said his son had asked to be assigned to the front lines.
“He’d been begging them for a while. Even though he enjoyed the color guard, he really wanted to be in Iraq. That is where it is all happening,” Ray Philippon said.
Philippon and his wife, Leesa, learned Sunday that their son had been killed. It was Mother’s Day and their 24th wedding anniversary.
The 22-year-old Marine was also engaged to be married in December to Olivia Lawrence.
“I never thought in any dream that I would first of all be marrying someone in the military, let alone sending someone off to war that just didn’t come back,” Lawrence said.
The Pentagon said early Tuesday that he was killed by small-arms fire Sunday during combat near Al Qa’im, Iraq. He was assigned to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Gov. M. Jodi Rell on Tuesday ordered state flags flown at half-staff until Philippon is buried.
“We are all indebted to him for his service, and reminded of the sacrifices made by a great many men and women serving in our armed forces,” Rell said in a statement. “I know the people of Connecticut join with me in sending our sincerest condolences to his family.”
Philippon, a former hockey player at Conard High School, is the 24th military member from Connecticut to be killed in Iraq or Afghanistan since March 2002.
Philippon’s parents said they plan to bury their son at Arlington National Cemetery.