Nicolas M Hodson
Profile
Age: 22
From: Smithville, Mo.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Marine Sgt. Nicolas M. Hodson was killed in a vehicle accident in Iraq.
Died: March 22, 2003
In the Marine Corps, Hodson finally found a place where he felt comfortable.
“The last time he was home, he said joining the Marines was the best thing he ever did,” says Mara Edinger, a friend and high school classmate. “He really felt he belonged to something.”
Hodson’s four-year stint was due to end in June, and he was trying to decide whether to go college and study engineering or make a career with the Marines.
“He was leaning toward the Marines,” says Michelle Smith, a friend near Kansas City, Mo.
Hodson was single but had two sons: Braden, 2, who lives with his mother in Kansas City, Mo., and Marius, 1, who lives with his mother in North Carolina.
He also has a twin sister, Nicole, also in Kansas City. His mother, Gloria Burton, died of cancer in October.
“He was a great person; there wasn’t anybody who met him didn’t like him,” Smith said.
The primary draw to enlist was to finance a co