John E. Hayes
Profile
Age: 36
From: Middleburg, Fla.
Assigned to 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Incident: Marine Master Sgt. John E. Hayes died July 8 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
Died: July 08, 2009
E-8, E-3 killed in Afghan fighting
Staff report
JACKSONVILLE, N.C. — Two North Carolina-based Marines were killed Wednesday in Afghanistan, according to a Marine news release.
Master Sgt. John Hayes, 36, of Middleburg, Fla., and Lance Cpl. Roger Hager, 20, of Gibsonville, N.C., died supporting combat operations in Helmand province, where about 4,000 Marines and sailors with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade launched a major offensive earlier this month.
Hayes and Hager were assigned to Alpha Company, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, at Camp Lejeune, according to the release. It’s unclear if they died in the same incident.
Hayes — survived by his wife, two daughters and a son — was the company’s operations chief. He joined the Corps in July 1991 and served a tour in Iraq in 2003 and again in 2007. He also supported operations in Kosovo and Albania in 1998 and Kuwait in...