thedrifter
10-15-05, 08:32 AM
Marine is 14th fatality from area
His death comes 3 mos. after Iraq blast injured him
By Carol Ann Alaimo
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A Santa Rita High School graduate, badly burned as his military unit searched for homemade bombs in Iraq, lost his fight for life Wednesday after 22 surgeries and nearly three months of anguish.
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Kenneth Hunt Jr., a 40-year-old father of two who grew up in Tucson, died of massive infection in the burn unit of Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, his family said Friday.
He is the 14th service member with ties to Southern Arizona to die in military campaigns in Iraq or Afghanistan.
With 22 years of service under his belt, Hunt was eligible to retire from the Marine Corps with full benefits. Instead, he voluntarily stayed on to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty, said his mother, Juanita Hunt, who now lives in Alabama.
Her son wasn't supposed to be on the mission that ended up killing him, she said. He took part that day so that someone else could have the day off, she said.
Though trained as a machine-gunner, Hunt's job in Iraq was to supervise other Marines searching for improvised explosive devices. But he agreed to fill in on machine-gun duty and was in the turret of an armored Humvee when it hit an anti-tank mine west of Baghdad on July 24.
"He loved being a Marine," Juanita Hunt said. Her son also loved Tucson, she said, and he was considering an eventual move back to the city after he retired.
The July blast left Hunt with second-degree burns to more than half his body. He was flown back to the United States and underwent nearly two dozen operations as doctors tried to save him.
"He suffered a lot," Juanita Hunt said. With his wounds unable to heal, her son spent his last weeks drifting in and out of consciousness from painkillers and anesthetic as loved ones prayed for his recovery.
Hunt's wife of two decades, Maria, stayed at her husband's bedside throughout the ordeal and was with him when he died, Juanita Hunt said.
The couple were so close they still seemed like newlyweds, she said. They have two children, 19-year-old Kenneth Hunt III and a daughter, Kimberly, who turned 13 the day her father died. He is also survived by his father, Kenneth Hunt Sr., also of Alabama.
Kenneth Hunt Jr. had been in Iraq since February. He also spent a year there in 2003 during the war's major combat phase.
Maria Hunt issued a statement Friday though the public-affairs office of her husband's home base in Yuma, saying he gave his all for the cause of freedom.
"Freedom is not free, and this is part of the sacrifice we must endure to maintain our way of life," public affairs officer Capt. Beatriz Yarrish quoted her as saying.
Hunt "could have retired and not made this deployment, but he chose to remain on active duty and deploy. To him it was payback for the freedoms he and his family enjoyed," Yarrish said.
Hunt was born in Roswell, N.M., and his parents moved to Tucson when he was 2. He enlisted straight out of high school in 1983, and has not lived here since, though he visited as often as possible to keep in touch with childhood friends and relatives, his mother said.
His grandmother, Phyllis Burrows, and an aunt, Lynn Mendez, are city residents, Hunt's mother said. He last visited Tucson in summer 2004.
Hunt was assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
News of his death left a pall over the Marine base, where Hunt had worked since 1999, training hundreds of other Marines in areas such as leadership skills, marksmanship, and physical fitness.
Hunt had deep affection for his fellow Marines, and they held him in high esteem, said Lt. Col. Mark Butler, Hunt's commanding officer at the Yuma base last year.
Hunt made an impression because he led by example, Butler said. Instead of just ordering young Marines to do push-ups, he would get up front and do them, too.
"What I'll remember most is the way those young Marines looked up to him," Butler said.
"He was someone people wanted to emulate. As Marines, we talk a lot about leading, and he was a living embodiment of what we mean."
● Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or at calaimo@azstarnet.com.
Ellie
Rest In Peace
His death comes 3 mos. after Iraq blast injured him
By Carol Ann Alaimo
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
A Santa Rita High School graduate, badly burned as his military unit searched for homemade bombs in Iraq, lost his fight for life Wednesday after 22 surgeries and nearly three months of anguish.
Marine Corps Master Sgt. Kenneth Hunt Jr., a 40-year-old father of two who grew up in Tucson, died of massive infection in the burn unit of Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas, his family said Friday.
He is the 14th service member with ties to Southern Arizona to die in military campaigns in Iraq or Afghanistan.
With 22 years of service under his belt, Hunt was eligible to retire from the Marine Corps with full benefits. Instead, he voluntarily stayed on to return to Iraq for a second tour of duty, said his mother, Juanita Hunt, who now lives in Alabama.
Her son wasn't supposed to be on the mission that ended up killing him, she said. He took part that day so that someone else could have the day off, she said.
Though trained as a machine-gunner, Hunt's job in Iraq was to supervise other Marines searching for improvised explosive devices. But he agreed to fill in on machine-gun duty and was in the turret of an armored Humvee when it hit an anti-tank mine west of Baghdad on July 24.
"He loved being a Marine," Juanita Hunt said. Her son also loved Tucson, she said, and he was considering an eventual move back to the city after he retired.
The July blast left Hunt with second-degree burns to more than half his body. He was flown back to the United States and underwent nearly two dozen operations as doctors tried to save him.
"He suffered a lot," Juanita Hunt said. With his wounds unable to heal, her son spent his last weeks drifting in and out of consciousness from painkillers and anesthetic as loved ones prayed for his recovery.
Hunt's wife of two decades, Maria, stayed at her husband's bedside throughout the ordeal and was with him when he died, Juanita Hunt said.
The couple were so close they still seemed like newlyweds, she said. They have two children, 19-year-old Kenneth Hunt III and a daughter, Kimberly, who turned 13 the day her father died. He is also survived by his father, Kenneth Hunt Sr., also of Alabama.
Kenneth Hunt Jr. had been in Iraq since February. He also spent a year there in 2003 during the war's major combat phase.
Maria Hunt issued a statement Friday though the public-affairs office of her husband's home base in Yuma, saying he gave his all for the cause of freedom.
"Freedom is not free, and this is part of the sacrifice we must endure to maintain our way of life," public affairs officer Capt. Beatriz Yarrish quoted her as saying.
Hunt "could have retired and not made this deployment, but he chose to remain on active duty and deploy. To him it was payback for the freedoms he and his family enjoyed," Yarrish said.
Hunt was born in Roswell, N.M., and his parents moved to Tucson when he was 2. He enlisted straight out of high school in 1983, and has not lived here since, though he visited as often as possible to keep in touch with childhood friends and relatives, his mother said.
His grandmother, Phyllis Burrows, and an aunt, Lynn Mendez, are city residents, Hunt's mother said. He last visited Tucson in summer 2004.
Hunt was assigned to the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing, I Marine Expeditionary Force at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma.
News of his death left a pall over the Marine base, where Hunt had worked since 1999, training hundreds of other Marines in areas such as leadership skills, marksmanship, and physical fitness.
Hunt had deep affection for his fellow Marines, and they held him in high esteem, said Lt. Col. Mark Butler, Hunt's commanding officer at the Yuma base last year.
Hunt made an impression because he led by example, Butler said. Instead of just ordering young Marines to do push-ups, he would get up front and do them, too.
"What I'll remember most is the way those young Marines looked up to him," Butler said.
"He was someone people wanted to emulate. As Marines, we talk a lot about leading, and he was a living embodiment of what we mean."
● Contact reporter Carol Ann Alaimo at 573-4138 or at calaimo@azstarnet.com.
Ellie
Rest In Peace