Lance Cpl Jeromy West U.S. Marine Corp Iraq (Sept.21,1986-Nov.25,2006)

On November 25, 2006, my nephew, Jeromy West, was killed in action in the El Anbar province in Iraq. The 9/11 attacks angered him and he vowed to join the military someday to help protect this great nation. At 17, he joined the Marine Corps and was deployed to Afghanistan where he took part in protecting the polling places during their voting process. His next tour of duty was in Iraq, where a sniper killed him. His fellow marines killed the sniper. This page is a tribute to LCpl Jeromy David West, our hero. GW

The images below are of Jeromy's car, shipped home from his base in Hawaii, and custom painted by his family in California in tribute to him. His mom now drives the car daily.

Twenty One Gun Salute and Taps (from the funeral)

Ben sings "Simple Man" (His best friend, from Anzo, CA)

West family salute to Jeromy, 6/24/06 (before he was deployed to Iraq)

www.jeromywest.com (a cool website created by Jeromy's family in San Diego)

Here is a letter my brother Dave sent to a local radio station just after Jeromy shipped out to Iraq:

Jeromy graduated from high school in May 2005 from the Hemet school district at the age of seventeen. Throughout school he was a gifted athlete in baseball and football. Just prior to graduation he was offered a college scholarship to play football. He instead enlisted in the Marines in the infantry. I questioned his judgement for opting to enlist rather than take the college offer. He looked me in the eye and told me that it is his duty to protect our country and that someone has to do it. Jeromy spent his eightteenth birthday in Afghanistan and is leaving in August for Iraq. He proved to me that you can be a man at seventeen years old, to make that kind of commitment and personal sacrifice restores my faith in this nations young people.

Signed,

Dave West

One Very Proud and Scared as Hell Dad

This story appeared in the San Diego Union:

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, made a lot of Americans angry. They made Jeromy West, a sweet-natured 14-year-old, angry enough to go to war.

The boy, formerly of Chula Vista, joined the Marines at age 17. By 19, he was guarding polling centers in Afghanistan. At 20, he was battling insurgents in Iraq.

On Thursday, an exhausted West called his mother, Lisa West-Klopf, from Anbar province during a lull in combat duty.

“He was tired and his feet were all messed up,” said his mother, 41, who lives in Aguanga, a town of about 6,000 people close to the Riverside-San Diego county line. Her family moved there when West was in the eighth grade.

“He had not had a shower in days and days and was fed pie and orange soda for Thanksgiving. But he was real excited because he had received a Taco Bell nacho kit I had sent him in the mail,” she said. “I don't know how he did it, but he called everyone on Thanksgiving – his brother and girlfriend and us. We are very glad that he was able to call.”

On Saturday, a sniper's bullet struck West while he stood guard on a roof in western Iraq, killing him almost instantly. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, 3rd Marine Expeditionary Force in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. The news rattled students and teachers yesterday at Hamilton High School in Anza, where West graduated in 2004.

“We are a small, tight-knit, very rural community. A football game on a Saturday is the only game in town. When this kind of thing happens, it really hits a small community. Chances are you either knew him or knew of him or knew his family,” said school principal Jim Allured.

Today, the U.S. flag on campus will be lowered to half-staff in honor of West, who played football, baseball and wrestled for the Hamilton Bobcats.

“He was also a member of the student government and was very well liked by fellow students and staff. He was a hard worker, dependable, great sense of humor and a good student. From talking to people who knew him, he was just a neat kid,” Allured said.

The principal described West's senior photo as “happy, but one of a person on a mission.”

That mission started early and always included the military, West-Klopf said.

West wanted to be an “Army man” even before he played football in a Chula Vista Pop Warner league in the mid-1990s, his mother said. The attacks of Sept. 11 simply galvanized a nascent patriotism.

“That made him mad, and he never forgot. He wanted to fight the terrorists over there to keep us safe here. He didn't want anyone else to have to do it,” she said.

Days after graduating from Hamilton High, he left for boot camp in San Diego. He was deployed to the Middle East soon afterward.

During his first tour in Afghanistan, “he guarded the ballot boxes and felt he was a part of history,” West-Klopf said.

Mother and son sat down before West shipped out for his second combat tour – this time in Iraq.

“I told him that if something happened, that I wanted him to go to a national cemetery like his grandfather,” she said. “But he did not want that.”

Now, the plan is to cremate West and keep the ashes. His family is thinking about holding a memorial service at the football stadium where West once starred as a center and linebacker.

“He was the sweetest, funniest kid and so many people loved him. . . . I would tell him that I missed his face and he would take a picture of his face and send it to me. He did that just before he shipped out to Iraq,” his mother said.

“It's the little things like that I'm going to miss the most. Like him kissing me on my cheek,” she said. “I am going to miss him every day for the rest of my life.”

Here's another story:

Inland Marine killed in Iraq

CASUALTY: The man, who joined the Corps at 17, is killed in Al Anbar province.

10:00 PM PST on Monday, November 27, 2006

By MEGHAN LEWIT and SEAN NEALON
The Press-Enterprise

A fifth graduate of Hemet district schools has been killed in Iraq.

Lance Cpl. Jeromy D. West, 20, of Aguanga, died Saturday while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, according to a Department of Defense news release.

His home in Aguanga had a shrine to him near the driveway and a front yard decorated with American and Marine Corps flags.

Aguanga, a hilly, rural area south of Hemet and east of Temecula on the Riverside-San Diego County border, is part of the Hemet Unified School District. West graduated at 17 from Hamilton High School in Anza.

After graduating, West told his mother, Lisa West, and his stepfather, Ron Klopf, that he wanted to join the Marine Corps. They signed the papers to allow Jeromy to join the Marines before his 18th birthday.

"He wanted to be the one to take care of us. He tried to be the man of the house," Lisa West said. West often told her son that she missed his face, so he would get pictures of himself and would e-mail them to her cell phone.

Jeromy West was stationed in Hawaii and had served a tour in Afghanistan before being sent to Iraq Sept. 11.

West's younger sister, Brandi, 18, was the only one home Saturday when two Marines and a Navy chaplain arrived to say Jeromy had died.

"He was just my hero," Brandi said. "I couldn't have asked for a better brother."

Four Hemet High School graduates have been killed in the fighting in Iraq. Three have died since June, two in October.

Hamilton High Principal Jim Allured said West graduated before he came to the school, but had heard from others that West was "just a really, really good kid" who was active in student government and athletics.

West was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, the release stated.

The first death of a Hemet High graduate came in January 2004, when Army Spc. Jason Chappell, 22, died in a roadside bomb attack. Marine Cpl. Michael Estrella, 20, died last June when his patrol came under enemy fire.

Twenty-year-old Army Pfc. Kenny Francis Stanton Jr.'s death came Oct. 13, and just 10 days later, Navy Corpsman Charles Otto "Otter" Sare, 23, was killed. Both died in roadside bombings.

Twenty-nine Riverside County residents have died during the fighting in Iraq -- 1 percent of U.S. deaths since the war began. Fifty-three Inland residents have died in Iraq since 2003.

Reach Sean Nealon at 951-375-3730 or snealon@PE.com

Staff writer Adam C. Hartmann contributed to this report.

© 2006, The Press-Enterprise Company

We posted this on www.patriotguard.org:

To the Patriot Guard Riders, We want to thank you for attending our nephew's funeral services.  We appreciate what you stand for and we were glad that there were no "disruptions". We drove out from Iowa, along with other family members. We had not seen Jeromy for many years and it warmed our hearts to see that so many people from the community were there to share in this time of sorrow. We are very Proud of Jeromy and will miss him deeply. He is our Hero. Let us pray for the safe return of our remaining service men and women.

Sincerely,

Gregg and Pamela West

My brother and his wife posted this on www.patriotguard.org:

We want to thank the Patriot Guard for your support of our troops and their families. Your presence at Lance Cpl. Jeromy David West memorial service was not only a sense of security but also a comfort to know that our love ones are not forgotten. We stand proud and strong for what our men and women do to protect our freedom. November 25, 2006 we lost a great man. Lance Cpl. Jeromy West was determined, strong, respectful, loving, caring, compassionate, mature and humble. These are just a few of the qualities this special man had! What more could you ask for from a friend, brother, son, grandson, cousin, Marine. United We Stand and God bless our troops and the Patriot Guard for what you give to this great country. Dave & Diane West (Proud Dad & Stepmom) 

a Patriot Guard Rider posted this:

MISSION COMPLETED

Mission Report.
     We met at the Mobil station is Anza, Ca and had our briefing. There were 7 Bikes and 1 cage this included 2 PGR members on their 1st mission. We proceeded to the High School where Lance Cpl. Jeromy West played football.  As soon as we arrived at the football stadium Lanc Cpl West Mother and Father came over to us and thanked us for what the PGR does. Lance Cpl Jeromy West mother, Lisa, said she has followed the PGR website and is amazed at the PGR. We proceeded to the entry of the outdoor stadium and formed a line on each side of the entry and stood proud with our flags. As the honor guard with Lance Cpl Jeremy West cremains entered we all stood at attention and presented arms in his honor. The stadium was capable of seating 750 people and more seats were needed as the friends kept arriving. The evening became very cool. By the time the memorial was completed we had all learned to know more about his younger years and his years as a proud Marine. Lance Cpl Jeremy West is truley an American Hero.
     When the Memorial was completed we  departed the stadium, the tempature was in the low 40's and we all departed for our homes.

Ride With Respect,
Tom S.

we posted this on www.legacy.com