Marine Staff Sgt. Trevor Spink

Died July 10, 2004 Serving During Operation Iraqi Freedom

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36, of Farmington, Mo.; assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; killed July 10 in a non-combat-related vehicle accident in Anbar province, Iraq.

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Marine pictured on recruitment posters killed in Iraq

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS — A Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based Marine once featured in recruitment materials has been killed in a weekend Humvee accident while serving his third tour in Iraq, his family said.

Two Marine Corps officers appeared at the Missouri family’s home Sunday to deliver the news that Staff Sgt. Trevor Spink, of Farmington, died the previous day, said his half-brother, Lucas Kozloski. Kozloski said the family was told that the accident was being investigated.

Spink, a 36-year-old career Marine and veteran of the Gulf War, was serving on his third tour in Iraq.

Capt. Dan McSweeney, a Marine spokesman, said Tuesday no information about Spink’s death was immediately being released.

Spink appeared on recruitment posters and billboards nationwide, leading friends and family to call him the Marines’ “poster boy,” Kozloski said.

“He had a lot of easy jobs in the corps, but every time a war would happen, he’d sign up for the infantry,” Kozloski said. “He loved it and he loved his country.”

The last time he saw Spink was three weeks ago, before Spink returned to Iraq. Kozloski said they spent hours talking, trading stories, or riding Spink’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Kozloski said it made him feel better to know his brother died doing something that made him happy.

One of Spink’s friends from high school, Larry Lacey, 38, remembered him as active and cheerful and said Spink was eager to join activities.

“I didn’t get to see him the last time he was in town,” Lacey said. “I would have given anything to see him again.”