DoD Announces Marine Casualty
Tonight, we gather to remember the life and honor the service of a Marine who gave the last full measure of devotion in service to our country:
Lance Cpl. Joe M. Jackson, 22, of White Swan, Washington
His mission is ended and he has earned his rest.
Please take a moment to go below the fold and pay tribute to him by participating in our virtual memorial service.
The IGTNT team asks you to 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.
sources: KVEW-TV, KOMO News, KAPP-TV, Iraq-Afghanistan War heroes, Yakima Herald-Republic
"That was my best friend. I lost my best friend."
Joe Jackson was a Gila River tribal member who was mostly raised in the Yakama reservation community of White Swan. At the age of 12 he came to live with his foster father, Shawn Marceau, a Blackfeet tribal member. "He accepted me as his father and that's the way it came down," Shawn Marceau said. Marceau, his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all served in the Marines, and soon after coming to live with Marceau, Joe began dressing up as a Marine in imitation of them.
When he was attending White Swan high school, Jackson made a name for himself as the kind of big-hearted kid who would help anyone. His foster father recalled how Jackson would always come home right after school and do chores. If something needed fixing, he fixed it. “He just wanted to be with us," he said. "He just wanted to be home." Jackson had his own unique style in high school, and was known for wearing a leather vest and a leather coat. "He was pretty rough, really rough around the edges," Marceau said. "I just wanted him to succeed and he did."
His academic advisor and resource teacher, Shelly Craig, said he was not interested in book learning and regular classroom work and fell behind in his credits, showing a preference for the hands-on activity of vocational classes. But he was smarter than most realized and surprised his teachers when he passed the Washington Assessment of Student Learning standardized test in 10th grade, she said. And once he realized that he needed to graduate from high school in order to fulfill his dream of serving in the Marine Corps, he became more academically focused. "He did come back for a second senior year, [because] he was motivated to get his diploma in order to become a Marine," says his history teacher Jackie Graf. And Shelley Craig added, "If the military (hadn't been) the carrot out there for him, I don't think he would have graduated. He's always been very much driven to join the Marines -- that was his ultimate goal."
When the big graduation day finally came, Jackson's big heart and special personal style was on display once again. A graduating student in a wheelchair had no one to march with, and Joe didn't like the idea of his fellow student having that special moment alone.
"Joe stood up and said 'I'll march with him, I'll walk with him,' you know, that was just his style," said Craig.
So on graduation night, Jackson helped R.J. Jim through the walk. "He took care of him and made sure he made it up on the stage and everything," Craig said. "[Joe] had a very compassionate heart."
After graduation, his father encouraged him to consider continuing his formal education. "Maybe you know, go to college, see what you want, become an officer, maybe, do something,” Marceau said. But Jackson wanted to be a Marine, just like his dad, and no one could stop him. Jackson joined the Marines after graduating from White Swan High School in 2009.
1st Sgt. Michael Lille said that Joe Jackson was among the elite, with swimming, rifle and educational scores that landed him among the top 10 percent. Those scores opened opportunities for him far removed from the clashes on the ground, but he chose to tote a rifle as an infantryman. As his father said, "He was very adamant about becoming a grunt."
Joe Jackson was assigned to 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force. He was deployed to Afghanistan just one month ago. A lance corporal with the Alpha Company 15 out of Camp Pendleton, Jackson often volunteered to be one of the lead men on foot patrols. Marking the trail for his fellow Marines, there was always the possibility of being struck by IEDs. "He's my new hero, he volunteered to be right up front on foot patrol, and take what I consider to be the most dangerous spot in that patrol," says Capt. Jared Rains.
Joe Jackson was following another Marine who was carrying a mine detector on a steep slope when his foot slipped outside the detected area and a bomb exploded. Jackson was the only one struck. He was pronounced dead an hour later at a nearby hospital.
On Monday, Jackson's father sat between two Marines at the Marine Corps Reserve office on Tahoma Avenue in Yakima. Head cast down, fists clenching at times, Shawn Marceau recalled the young man he raised from the age of 12. Marceau shed tears as he recalled the knock on the door by members of the U.S. Marine Corps early the previous morning. “They showed up and it was scary," he said. "If I got the word from anyone, I'd rather get it from a Marine." They delivered the terrible news that his foster son had been killed by an IED while conducting combat operations in Helmand province in Afghanistan. Marceau added, "It was just a tough, tough morning, you know?"
Lance Corporal Jackson's body is now in Delaware, and may be brought back to White Swan within a week. Jackson leaves behind a younger brother and sister, both foster siblings, said Marceau, who declined to identify them. Services are not expected for about two weeks. The family is Native American, and plans to incorporate elements of native culture into his funeral.
Now that his son is gone, Shawn Marceau has a suggestion for how people should honor U.S. war veterans. "You know how to honor his wishes and say thank you? When you see a veteran, thank him."
"He was a stellar Marine son," Marceau said. "That was my best friend. I lost my best friend."
I Got the News Today is a diary series intended to honor, respect and remember. Its title is a reminder that almost every day a military family gets the terrible news about a loved one. Diaries about the fallen usually appear two days after their names are officially released by the DoD, which allows time for the IGTNT team to find and tell their stories.
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