thedrifter
06-03-04, 01:26 PM
Camp Pendleton Marine killed in Iraq
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- Dustin Lee Sides, a 22-year-old extreme-sports enthusiast who raced through high school to join the Marines and asked that his life insurance help put his sister through college, has become the 817th U.S. service member killed in Iraq, according to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.
Sides, who grew up in Yakima, Wash., was a motor vehicle operator assigned to the 9th Communications Battalion of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force, according to the base.
Defense Department officials told Sides' stepmother, Nancy Sides, that he was killed Monday when his unit was ambushed while returning to its base after a mission in war-torn Fallujah, she said from her Yakima home Wednesday.
"We talked to him about two hours before he died," Sides said. "His mission was already over. He was on his way back and he said that it went well. That's when it happened."
Sides said she, the Marine's father, John Sides, and two of their three remaining children learned he had been killed when two Marine sergeants knocked on their door at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Nancy Sides said her stepson was a "wonderful, loyal, gung-ho, determined thrill-seeker" who loved snowboarding, jet skiing and dirt bikes. He knew he wanted to be a Marine since high school, she said.
Christine Hunter-Conway, Sides' teacher at Yakima Alternative School, said the young man transferred to the alternative school to take more classes and graduate faster.
"He was a driven, dedicated, hard-working kid who knew what he wanted to be," Hunter-Conway said. "He wanted to get there (to the military) as quickly as he could. I kept having to say, 'You can only legally go so fast. ... No, Dustin, you can't do three classes in a week.' "
Marine officials said Dustin Sides joined the Corps on July 22, 2002, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton before being sent with other I MEF Marines to replace the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah in March.
Fallujah, a city of about 285,000 people near the center of Iraq, has been a hotbed of anti-American resistance for months and gained international attention when four American contractors were killed and mutilated there in late March.
Nancy Sides said Dustin talked to his family nearly every day from Iraq by satellite phone.
She said he often talked about Iraqi children and how poor they were, and she mentioned how her stepson "got into a little trouble" with his superiors for feeding children.
"I guess they thought it could be dangerous," she said. "They were afraid they may have bombs or something. He said they were just so hungry ---- that was one of the first phone calls we got."
Sides said that more than anything, her stepson wanted people back home to support the troops and be proud of them.
Her stepson never complained or talked about not returning home, she said.
But she said he told his parents that he wanted part of his life insurance, in the event of his death, to be used to help pay for his 15-year-old sister Katie's college education.
"He made that known to us," she said.
Nancy Sides said she and her family were struggling with shock.
"We finally got a little sleep last night," she said. "Our kids slept in our room with us. They're taking it pretty hard. We're proud of him and we love him."
Sides said her son's body was scheduled to come home this week.
Defense Department officials said Sides had earned the National Defense Service Medal.
Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/03/military/16_18_356_2_04.txt
Ellie
Rest In Peace
By: GIG CONAUGHTON - Staff Writer
CAMP PENDLETON ---- Dustin Lee Sides, a 22-year-old extreme-sports enthusiast who raced through high school to join the Marines and asked that his life insurance help put his sister through college, has become the 817th U.S. service member killed in Iraq, according to Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.
Sides, who grew up in Yakima, Wash., was a motor vehicle operator assigned to the 9th Communications Battalion of Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force, according to the base.
Defense Department officials told Sides' stepmother, Nancy Sides, that he was killed Monday when his unit was ambushed while returning to its base after a mission in war-torn Fallujah, she said from her Yakima home Wednesday.
"We talked to him about two hours before he died," Sides said. "His mission was already over. He was on his way back and he said that it went well. That's when it happened."
Sides said she, the Marine's father, John Sides, and two of their three remaining children learned he had been killed when two Marine sergeants knocked on their door at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Nancy Sides said her stepson was a "wonderful, loyal, gung-ho, determined thrill-seeker" who loved snowboarding, jet skiing and dirt bikes. He knew he wanted to be a Marine since high school, she said.
Christine Hunter-Conway, Sides' teacher at Yakima Alternative School, said the young man transferred to the alternative school to take more classes and graduate faster.
"He was a driven, dedicated, hard-working kid who knew what he wanted to be," Hunter-Conway said. "He wanted to get there (to the military) as quickly as he could. I kept having to say, 'You can only legally go so fast. ... No, Dustin, you can't do three classes in a week.' "
Marine officials said Dustin Sides joined the Corps on July 22, 2002, and was stationed at Camp Pendleton before being sent with other I MEF Marines to replace the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in Fallujah in March.
Fallujah, a city of about 285,000 people near the center of Iraq, has been a hotbed of anti-American resistance for months and gained international attention when four American contractors were killed and mutilated there in late March.
Nancy Sides said Dustin talked to his family nearly every day from Iraq by satellite phone.
She said he often talked about Iraqi children and how poor they were, and she mentioned how her stepson "got into a little trouble" with his superiors for feeding children.
"I guess they thought it could be dangerous," she said. "They were afraid they may have bombs or something. He said they were just so hungry ---- that was one of the first phone calls we got."
Sides said that more than anything, her stepson wanted people back home to support the troops and be proud of them.
Her stepson never complained or talked about not returning home, she said.
But she said he told his parents that he wanted part of his life insurance, in the event of his death, to be used to help pay for his 15-year-old sister Katie's college education.
"He made that known to us," she said.
Nancy Sides said she and her family were struggling with shock.
"We finally got a little sleep last night," she said. "Our kids slept in our room with us. They're taking it pretty hard. We're proud of him and we love him."
Sides said her son's body was scheduled to come home this week.
Defense Department officials said Sides had earned the National Defense Service Medal.
Contact staff writer Gig Conaughton at (760) 739-6696 or gconaughton@nctimes.com.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/06/03/military/16_18_356_2_04.txt
Ellie
Rest In Peace