Marine Lance Cpl. Sean M. Langley

Died November 7, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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20, of Lexington, Ky.; assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed Nov. 7 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Kentucky Marine killed in Iraq

Associated Press

LEXINGTON, Ky. — A 20-year-old Marine from Lexington was killed in action in Iraq over the weekend, military officials said Monday.

Lance Cpl. Sean M. Langley died Sunday in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to the Department of Defense.

Langley’s parents are both police officers in Lexington, said Judy Rittenhouse, the spokeswoman for the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Lexington, where Langley’s father, Bill Langley, is the assistant chief of police service.

Langley’s mother, Patricia, works for the Lexington police department, Rittenhouse said. Langley’s father said his son wanted eventually to become a police officer.

Sean Langley enlisted in the Marine Corps on the Saturday after the Sept. 11 attacks, his father said.

He was in his second tour in Iraq, Rittenhouse said.

Langley’s family said the Marine was fearless.

“A group of friends once sprayed pepper spray in his face just to prove he could take it,” said Susan Langley, his stepmother. “I made him stand in the shower for 45 minutes. He was a rascal but was very loving.”

In Iraq, he went on reconnaissance missions in armored Humvees, searching for the enemy, Bill Langley said.

Sean’s brother, Matt Langley, 19, recalled a game he and his brother used to play several years ago.

“He and I would dress up in fatigues and we would try to find each other in the woods,” he said. “He knew even then (he wanted to join the Marines).”

Langley and his father were pictured in May 2003 in a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs newsletter, as part of a story about the children of department employees who were serving in the military in Iraq.

Langley was a member of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

Langley was born Aug. 2, 1984, in Great Falls, Mont., and moved to Lexington with his family in 1994, his brother said. He attended Blue Grass Baptist, Lexington Catholic and Henry Clay high schools.

“He was a wonderful son and I am endlessly proud of him,” Bill Langley said.

Sean Langley is also survived by his stepbrother, John T. Hannon; his grandfather, Robert Heinz, and his wife, Sonia; his grandmother, Maureen Young, and her husband, Ron; and a step-grandmother, Mary Hanson.

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Schwarzenegger saddened by Pendleton Marine’s death

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed condolences Tuesday for a Camp Pendleton-based Marine from Kentucky who was killed this week while fighting in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Sean M. Langley, 20, from Lexington, Ky., was killed in action on Sunday in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

“Maria and I are saddened to learn of Lance Cpl. Langley’s death. His service to our country was honorable and his efforts in the war against terrorism were valiant,” the governor said in a statement. “We extend our solemn gratitude to Sean’s family and friends and the community of Lexington.”

Flags at the capitol in Sacramento will be flown at half-staff in his honor.

Langley was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force.

— Associated Press