Marine Sgt. Jesse W. Strong

Died January 26, 2005 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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24, of Irasburg, Vt.; assigned to the 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, 4th Marine Division, Marine Corps Reserve, Lynchburg, Va.; killed Jan. 26 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Vermont Marine killed in Iraq

By Wilson Ring

Associated Press

MONTPELIER, Vt. — A Vermont Marine has been killed in a roadside attack in Iraq, the family says.

Sgt. Jesse Strong, 24, was one of four Marines belonging to a reserve company stationed in Lynchburg, Va., to be killed Wednesday, officials said.

Strong’s mother, Vicki Strong, said Thursday the family was told that he had been killed by a roadside bomb.

Strong had just graduated from Liberty University in Lynchburg and had attended one semester of seminary before his unit was activated. He arrived in Iraq in August and had been due to come home in March, said Vicki Strong.

“He had a love for his family and for Vermont,” his mother said. “He missed Vermont terribly. He had a deep love for God and his country.

“He didn’t give his life in vain,” she said.

Jesse’s father, Nathan Strong, is the pastor of the Methodist Church in Albany, a tiny town near the Canadian border.

A reporter embedded with those troops, Jim Dolan of WABC in New York City, said the deaths came when insurgents ambushed a Marine convoy leaving the town of Haditha, northwest of Baghdad, hitting a vehicle with a rocket-propelled grenade.

Strong was the 14th service member with Vermont ties killed in action in Iraq. A 15th service member died of natural causes in Kuwait before entering Iraq.

Vicki Strong said her son had been home-schooled.

Town Clerk Debbie Geoffroy said Thursday morning that residents were just learning of Strong’s death.

“The whole town will know by tonight,” she said. “It’s going to be devastating.

“A lot of people will be very devastated by it,” she said.

Town Lister Francis Whitcomb said the Strongs were well known in the area.

“They are a wonderful family,” Whitcomb said. “The Strongs have been in the area for a number of generations.”

Strong was a member of Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion. The battalion was based in Baltimore.

In Iraq, Company C was involved in the search for weapons caches, sweeping roads for explosives and building fighting positions, said C Company’s Capt. Jaime Wagner.

Wagner identified the dead as Strong, Cpl. Jonathan Bowling, 23, of Stuart, Va.; Cpl. Christopher Weaver, 24, of Fredericksburg, Va.; and Lance Cpl. Karl Linn, 20, of Chesterfield, Va..

“The Marine Corps is truly a band of brothers and we lost four brothers from this company,” Wagner said. “But we continue to do our jobs and continue to carry on as Marines.”

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Falwell to officiate at Vt. Marine’s funeral

ALBANY, Vt. — The Rev. Jerry Falwell plans to lead funeral services for Sgt. Jesse Strong, the young Marine from Albany killed in Iraq on Wednesday.

Falwell is chancellor of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va., where Strong graduated.

The Rev. Dwayne Carson said he and Falwell planned to travel from the Lynchburg campus to Vermont for the service.

Invited by the Marine’s family to officiate, Carson said he and Falwell were touched to have the opportunity to honor the 2003 Liberty graduate’s life.

“I once told Jesse I wish I had a thousand young men like him,” Carson said Friday. “I don’t use that statement lightly.”

Life as a Marine, a college student and religious student intertwined for Strong while attending Liberty. He enlisted in the Marine reserve while studying biology and history. He was one of four Marines from Lynchburg’s Company C, 4th Combat Engineer Battalion, who were killed in an ambush.

Strong also served as a prayer leader for fellow students at the religious school, mentoring a group of five fellow students before moving on to serve as spiritual life developer for an entire dormitory floor, Carson said.

“Jesse was a spiritual leader here on campus, serving really as a staff member in the dorms,” Falwell said. “He loved the Lord, he loved his country and he gave his life.”

Vicki Strong, the Marine’s mother, said Friday that her son regularly attended Falwell’s services at the Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg. During one service, he was one of several members of the military acknowledged by Falwell and his congregation. She described the reverend’s willingness to officiate as a blessing.

“We just feel that it’s an honor and a blessing to our community to be embraced by the bigger picture of the Christian world around us,” Vicki Strong said. “It’s amazing that they’re even coming.”

Her son was the 15th person with Vermont ties to die in combat in Iraq; a 16th soldier died of natural causes in Kuwait.

— Associated Press

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Marine killed in Iraq did ‘big things in a short time’

BARTON, Vt. — A 24-year-old Marine who graduated in 2003 from Liberty University and then died in Iraq was destined to do great things, the Rev. Jerry Falwell said Friday at his funeral.

Falwell, chancellor of the university in Lynchburg, Va., said as news of Jesse Strong’s death in Iraq spread around the world, stories about his life always mentioned his faith in God.

“The fact is God raised him up to do big things in a short time,” said Falwell, who flew to Vermont with a group of Liberty University officials to lead the funeral service. “It was appropriate for him to flame out so quickly.”

Strong was one of four Marines killed Jan. 26 when their vehicle was attacked in Iraq’s Anbar province.

“He added to the wealth of America. He added to the character of America,” Falwell said.

Strong grew up in the nearby town of Albany, where he was home-schooled. His father is a Methodist minister.

Strong joined the Marine reserves in 2001, while a student at Liberty and before the attacks on the United States. “After 9/11 he told his mother, ‘Mom, I’m ready to go if they need me,”’ said Ray DeCelles, a family friend who gave a eulogy at the high school gymnasium where Strong’s funeral was held.

Those who knew his work at Liberty said Strong helped younger students with their faith.

“We are a better campus because of him,” said Liberty Chaplain Pastor Dwayne Carson. “I wish I could have a thousand men like Jesse at Liberty University day in and day out.”

— Associated Press