IGTNT: Honor Their Service, Remember Their Lives

An Army Ranger. A Marine. Both 22, both killed in Iraq doing what they wanted to do.

Tonight, I bring you the news of two more deaths -- Cpl. Benjamin C. Dillon, 22, of Rootstown, Ohio and Lance Cpl. Jeremy W. Burris, 22, of Tacoma, Wash. – that are being mourned by their families, friends, units and communities. Please join me in honoring their service and remembering their lives.

This is Cpl. Benjamin C. Dillon.

And this is his mother: "We knew this is what Ben wanted to do," said Linda Dillon, fighting tears as she spoke about her son. "He would have been proud of this."

Linda Dillon got the news of her son’s death on Saturday, when two Ohio Army National Guardsman knocked on the door of her Edinburgh Township, Ohio home. As the Department of Defense notes, "he died Oct. 7 in northern Iraq of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit with small arms fire. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga."

He was a Ranger, so far from home.

I cannot imagine what this mother must be going through, and the strength it must have taken her to put Benjamin’s dreams ahead of her own grief, telling the Record Courier:

"This is where Ben wanted to be... On his fancy Army contract, it said he was going to be an Army Ranger. That's what he wanted and he did it. He worked so hard."

(snip)

"One night during his training, he was sleeping outside when a spider crawled on him," she said, for a moment beginning to smile. "But he just left it there. It was so cold that night, he said he needed it for the body heat. So those were the kinds of stories we'd get."

Dillon joined the Army a few months after his 2004 graduation from Southeast High School, where he lettered in basketball, baseball and golf, and where he is today remembered as a hard worker. "He worked very hard, he was very respectful, he was a great kid," said assistant principal and basketball coach Bob Dunn. "He always went out of his way to help others, and he was always very skilled in knowing the drills and things like that, and he would go out of his way to help somebody that wasn't as skilled or somebody that needed help... Ben was one of those kids that you knew was going to be successful and certainly when he chose the army, I knew that he was going to be successful and that he wouldn't settle for just any level, he was going to try to achieve the top level," says Dunn.

The U.S. Army Special Operations Command Public Affairs Office posted a profile (.pdf warning) about Dillon that highlights his path to the Rangers, and his various decorations, including the Purple Heart and Meritorious Service Medal, both of which were awarded to him posthumously:

As a Ranger, Cpl Benjamin C. Dillon distinguished himself as a member of the Army’s premier lightinfantry unit, traveled to all corners of the world in support of the Global War on Terrorism, and fought valiantly to "uphold the prestige, honor, and high ‘esprit de corps’" of the Ranger Regiment.

He was on his fourth deployment.

The township’s residents speak of the Dillon family as being as all-American as apple pie: "This family is like the town of Edinburg," (Southeast High School Principal Gregory) Newell said. "They'd do anything for the community, and Ben was the same way." He added, "Everybody is kind of in shock ... the staff especially... Everybody knows the Dillons because they've been involved in the community for so long. It's really going to rock the whole community."

In the wake of his death, the 2,500-resident township is remembering its loss. The Record Courier reports that "Pettigrew Feed and Supply on S.R. 14 put up a sign outside on their billboard reading ‘You will be missed Bennie.’ A memorial -- 22 small American flags, a yellow ‘Support Our Troops’ ribbon and flowers -- went up on a fence outside Southeast Primary School on Tallmadge Road in Palmyra." The family plans to start a memorial scholarship at Southeast High School in Benjamin Dillon’s name.

In addition to his parents Terry and Linda Dillon, he is survived by two older brothers, Nicholas and Steven, all of Rootstown, Ohio.

Godspeed, Cpl. Benjamin C. Dillon.

This is Lance Cpl. Jeremy W. Burris.

The Department of Defense says that the 22-year-old Marine from Tacoma, Wash. "died Oct. 8 while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif."

His family doesn’t want to speak to the media, but, according to the Seattle Times, they did release a statement that says much more than the DoD did about Burris’ death:

Burris, a Marine assigned to the I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendelton, Calif., was killed on patrol near Al Qaim, when the vehicle he was driving was hit by a bomb, according to his family. Two Marines in the vehicle were injured and Burris helped care for them and get them out of the vehicle.

After they were safe he returned to the vehicle and stepped on a second hidden bomb, dying instantly, the statement said.

Here’s what Burris wanted the world to know about him, from his myspace page:

I was born and raised in Texas and proud of it. I'm the oldest of 7 kids with 4 brothers and 2 sisters. I love fast cars and roller coasters. My favorite foods are cheeseburgers, chili, brisket, tuna salad and banana pudding. I'm a Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego CA. I'm highly involved in church. I play guitar and sing and I used to lead music in my youth group back home. I miss doing that a lot.

(snip)

My biggest heroes are Jesus Christ and my Dad. My biblical heroes are David, Joshua and Elijah. Other heroes are George Washington, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston and Jim Bowie.

He was deeply involved with Cornerstone Church in Liberty, "where he led praise and worship sessions for the youth group and was a guitar player during the main services," according to KSWO.com.  "He was a precious young man who touched many lives," pastor Mike Glazener said. (He moved from Texas to Tacoma, Wash. two years ago to be part of a Christian discipleship program, and enlisted in the Marines a year and a half ago.)

Faith was important to Burris, and he wrestled with being both a war zone Marine and a Christian. As he wrote in his blog, "I know I'm here for a purpose. I know God is growing me. It does make it easier to think that the size of the trial you go through determines the size of the prize on the other side. And things do seem to be getting better. So I will continue to run this race, keeping my eyes on the prize. I will endure like a good soldier."

From Ron Vines, via Legacy.com:

My son, Lcpl Jayme Vines was with Jeremy when the incident occured. From what I'm told Jeremy and Jayme were very good friends while serving in Iraq, and Jayme has contacted us and asked us to let you know he sends his prayers to you, and will be contacting you upon his return from Iraq in November.

Jayme has told us that while not on patrol, that he and Jeremy, along with others, would sit and play guitars, sing, and talk of home and family members. Please know, that your son Jeremy was well liked and well respected by his fellow Marines, and by all accounts, he is a HERO to all of us.

His survivors include his parents, Brent and Karla Burris, and six siblings.

Godspeed, Lance Cpl. Jeremy W. Burris.

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The Department of Defense has confirmed 3,818 deaths and the announcement of three more deaths is expected, pending notification of the next of kin, according to the Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. All of the U.S. fatalities can be seen here. The DoD news releases are here.

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You can read more about each service member at  Honor the Fallen and  Spread the Word: Iraq-Nam, which is written by our own  spread the word IRAQ-NAM. They all had friends and loved ones. Please visit the Iraq Veterans Memorial for a moving look at how a few of their survivors remember them. It will break your heart. If you want to do something more, please visit anysoldier.com, Operation Helmet, and/or Fisher House.

About "I Got the News Today" (IGTNT)
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor service members who have died as a result of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen appear two days after their names are officially released, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.

Click here to see the series, which was begun by i dunno, and which is maintained by blue jersey mom, chacounne, greenies, joyful, labwitchy, moneysmith, MsWings, noweasels, roses, Sandy on Signal, silvercedes, SisTwo, twilight falling, Wee Mama and me, monkeybiz.

Please bear in mind that these diaries are read by friends and family of the service members chronicled here. May all of our remembrances be full of compassion rather than politics.