
SENOIA, Ga. — A Marine from Georgia was killed over the weekend in Iraq after returning to the battlefield two days after being released from a hospital where he was treated for an earlier gunshot wound, his aunt said Tuesday.
“He lost three toes and had an opportunity to come home, but he would not,” Sandra Blanton said of her nephew, Lance Cpl. Jeffery Blanton. “He wanted to stay. He didn’t want to give up his career with them.”
Blanton, 23, of Fayetteville, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, based at Marine Corps Base Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay.
His aunt said the Marines provided details to his family Sunday night. She said...