Branden P. Ramey
Profile
Age: 22
From: Boone, Ill.
Assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Corps Reserve, Chicago
Incident: Marine Lance Cpl. Branden P. Ramey was killed Nov. 8 by enemy action in Babil province, Iraq.
Died: November 08, 2004
Marine with Central Valley ties killed near Fallujah
Associated Press
BELVIDERE, Ill. — Lance Cpl. Branden Ramey talked about wedding plans, not war, the last time he called home from Iraq, his fiancee said.
Last week, the 22-year-old reservist proposed to his longtime girlfriend Stacey Lee from half a world away, then looked ahead to the postwar days when he would teach history while she ran her own beauty shop, Lee said.
Less than a week later, Ramey was killed near Fallujah, one of 11 U.S. service members who died Monday as troops pushed to retake the insurgent stronghold.
“For the rest of my life, he’s going to be in my heart day in and day out,” said Lee, who grew up with Ramey in Belvidere, Ill., a town of 16,000 people east of Rockford.
Branden grew up with his mother in Illinois, but spent his summers in Madera, Calif., where his father, Randy Ramey, lives.
Ramey joined the reserves after...