Jonathan R. Spears
Profile
Age: 21
From: Molino, Fla.
Assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, Calif. attached to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward)
Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Jonathan R. Spears was killed Oct. 23 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting combat operations against enemy forces in Ramadi, Iraq.
Died: October 23, 2005
Marine laid to rest
By Lesley Conn
Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal
They gathered along the funeral procession route on Nov. 3, some standing silently at attention, some waving American flags.
From Cantonment to Warrington, along the 15-mile route, they stayed long after the black hearse rolled past, long after the body of Marine Cpl. Jonathan “J.R.” Spears and his family and friends continued on toward Barrancas National Cemetery at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla.
Spears, 21, of Molino, shot to death on Oct. 23 in Iraq, was the first U.S. service member from the Pensacola area to die in the war, according to the Department of Defense.
The Rev. Glyn Lowery, pastor at Pace Assembly of God, assured the several hundred mourners gathered at Faith Chapel Funeral Home North in Cantonment that Spears was a hero not in death, but in a life Cpl. Spears pursued with purpose and compassion.
“Every time a flag...
Occupation
Incident
Prayers & Messages
Shannon Hoffman