Lawrence R. Philippon
Profile
Age: 22
From: Hartford, Conn.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Lawrence R. Philippon was killed May 8 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Qa’im, Iraq.
Died: May 08, 2005
Marine killed in Iraq asked to serve on front lines
Associated Press
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — As a member of the Marine Corps Color Guard, Lance Cpl. Lawrence Philippon carried the flag at the funeral for President Reagan.
But his heart was in Iraq, where he was killed Sunday by small-arms fire. His father said his son had asked to be assigned to the front lines.
“He’d been begging them for a while. Even though he enjoyed the color guard, he really wanted to be in Iraq. That is where it is all happening,” Ray Philippon said.
Philippon and his wife, Leesa, learned Sunday that their son had been killed. It was Mother’s Day and their 24th wedding anniversary.
The 22-year-old Marine was also engaged to be married in December to Olivia Lawrence.
“I never thought in any dream that I would first of all be marrying someone in the military, let alone sending someone off to war that just didn’t come back,”...