Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy R. Creager

Died July 1, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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21, of Millington, Tenn.; assigned to 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed July 1 by enemy forces in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Tim Creager was a man of great faith, "the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry and your sons to be like," said Rusty Wheelington, a minister who knew him well. Creager felt God had called him to serve his country. "He said he always felt God's presence with him," said his mother, Kay Creager. "He always knew he was doing what he was supposed to be doing." Creager, 20, of Millington, Tenn., died July 1 in Iraq’s Anbar province. He had been stationed at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Creager went to The Citadel on a full scholarship, but he left at the end of his sophomore year, saying he felt God was calling him to another destination. He enlisted with the Marines, fulfilling what friends said was a longtime dream. "It was what he wanted to do as long as I knew him," Wheelington said. In addition to his mother, Creager is survived by his fiancee, Marilane Mesler of Fairhope, Ala., and his father and stepmother, Mike and Susan Creager.

— Associated Press