Marine Sgt. Jeremy E. Murray

Died November 16, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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27, of Atwater, Ohio; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); killed Nov. 16 by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in the vicinity of Hadithah, Iraq.

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Family remembers Marine’s devotion to military

The Associated Press

AKRON, Ohio — An Ohio Marine who was killed in Iraq spent so much time preparing for the military that when he got to boot camp, he could break down a rifle faster than his superiors, his mother said Thursday.

“The drill sergeant didn’t like that,” said Pam Murray, mother of Marine Sgt. Jeremy Murray, who died this week, the family said.

Murray, 28, was killed when a roadside bomb hit his Humvee, family members said. The Department of Defense had no additional information on Murray’s death.

Murray joined the Army after graduating in 1996 from Waterloo High School in Atwater Township, about 20 miles east of Akron. He later became a Marine. He leaves behind a wife and 5-year-old son.

Pam Murray said her only son was an avid hunter and talked constantly about wanting to join the military when he was growing up. She was so familiar with the way her son held his gun that she was able to pick him out of a dim, distant photo she found online. Murray’s back was turned in the photo of several Marines about to enter an Iraqi home, but she knew it was him.

Harold Murray said he admired his only son’s devotion to the military.

“The biggest mistake of my life is I never served,” he said.
 

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Services held for Ohio Marines killed in Iraq

The Associated Press

ATWATER, Ohio — A Marine killed in a roadside bombing in Iraq would be upset that his father was eulogizing him Nov. 28 instead of getting out for the start of deer hunting season, his father said at a funeral service.

Hundreds of people attended services for Sgt. Jeremy Murray, 28, at his alma mater, Waterloo High School, located in Portage County about 20 miles southeast of Akron.

Harold Murray gave the eulogy.

“I know right now, as he’s standing at the right hand of God, he’s looking down on his grandfather and I because today is the first day of hunting season and we’re not out,” the father said. “He’s gonna give me heck for that next time I see him.”

Murray joined the Marines after graduating high school in 1996. He was killed Nov. 16 during combat operations near Hadithah, Iraq, according to the Department of Defense.

Students at Rootstown High School, a sports rival of Waterloo High and the alma mater of Murray’s parents, stood along the funeral procession route as it headed to the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery in Rittman.

In the northwest corner of Ohio, a community memorial service was held Nov. 26 for Marine Sgt. Michael P. Hodshire, 25, of North Adams, Mich., a former Montpelier resident who died Oct. 30 in combat in the Al Anbar province near Fallujah, Iraq.

Montpelier Mayor Steve Yagelski said a tree will be planted in Hodshire’s memory next spring.

Hodshire died on his second tour in Iraq with 3rd platoon, Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment.