Marine Sgt. Richard M. Lord

Died August 18, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

---

24, of Jacksonville, Fla.; assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.; killed Aug. 18 by enemy action in Anbar province, Iraq.

---

Florida Marine dies from injuries suffered in Iraq

Associated Press

FANNING SPRINGS, Fla. — A Marine from Florida who had dreamed of serving in the military since he was a little boy wearing a GI Joe costume was killed in Iraq just 10 days before his 25th birthday, his family and military officials said.

Sgt. Richard M. Lord died Aug. 18 after being injured during fighting in Iraq’s Anbar province, according to the Department of Defense. It was not immediately clear when or how he was injured.

“His mission in life was to be a Marine,” said Michelle Walker Crawford, his former teacher at Trenton High School. Lord left for boot camp six weeks after graduation.

Lord’s mother, Karen Latham, said her son dreamed of serving in the military as a child. He would put on a GI Joe uniform after school and climb a tree, asking if his mother could see him despite the camouflage, she said.

Lord had two sons in North Carolina, Richard Murle Flash Lord, 2, and Brody Lord, 10 months, and had talked about leaving the service to spend more time with them, his mother said. He wanted to move back to north-central Florida to be near his family, she said.

His father, Rick Lord of Fanning Springs, declined comment Tuesday to The Associated Press, other than to say his son’s body was not yet home.

Lord is survived by his parents and sons, a sister, Kimberly Adkins, 29, and a brother, Kody Latham, 13, and Brody’s mother, Rosie Powers, of North Carolina.

Lord was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the military said.