thedrifter
05-14-06, 10:33 AM
Posted on Sun, May. 14, 2006
Marine was inspired by Corps pride
By Angela Mapes
The Journal Gazette
Last August, Lance Cpl. David GramesSanchez signed an online guestbook honoring a fellow Marine, Capt. Brian Chontosh, who was awarded the Navy Cross for single-handedly clearing 200 yards of enemy trench line.
“Marines like Brian inspire me,” GramesSanchez wrote. “I am glad to call him my brother.”
Family members recalled that pride in the U.S. Marine Corps on Saturday, even as they mourned GramesSanchez’s death.
The 22-year-old Fort Wayne native and three other Marines were killed when their tank rolled into a canal near Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, in Anbar province. They were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5.
An earlier report incorrectly identified GramesSanchez as David Sanchez.
His grandfather, James Grames Sr., a Marine who fought in the Korean War, said he and his grandson had dinner before GramesSanchez left for his second tour of duty in Iraq.
“He strongly believed what he was doing in Iraq was for the good of the cause and for the good of the United States,” Grames said.
Grames said he was pleased when his grandson joined the Marines.
“We’ll never know where the future would have gone for him, but we’re glad he went as far as he did,” Grames said.
GramesSanchez’s father, Dave Grames, said he was incredibly proud of the man his son had become.
“He was quite a spirit,” Dave Grames said. “There was never a dull moment when he was around.”
The decision to join the Marines was one GramesSanchez made on his own, and his reasons were twofold, his father said. GramesSanchez wanted to be “a member of the best,” and wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
His aunt, Cathy McBride of Fort Wayne, said Saturday that she will remember GramesSanchez, a 2003 Elmhurst High School graduate, as a family-oriented, honorable person.
“He was just a hell-raiser who turned his life around and truly became from a boy to a man,” McBride said. “He was very proud to follow in his grandpa’s footsteps.”
GramesSanchez always made time for his family when he was home and was great with children, his aunt said.
He also was a dedicated athlete. The former Elmhurst wrestler ran marathons in Iraq on his first tour there, McBride said.
On Dec. 30, he married fellow Elmhurst graduate Lindsay Walsh. The couple first dated in ninth grade and remained friends, Dave Grames said. GramesSanchez’s future wife contacted him while he was serving his first tour of duty in Iraq, from September 2004 through March 2005, and began dating again when GramesSanchez returned home.
His wife had been staying with her parents and was planning to go to North Carolina in June to look for the couple’s first home together, McBride said.
That won’t happen now, and the family will meet today to discuss funeral arrangements. No arrangements have been made yet, since the family is waiting for the military to send the remains to Fort Wayne, McBride said.
GramesSanchez also is survived by a 2-year-son, Corbin, who lives in Florida; his father and father’s fiancee, Lory Burton; mother, Lupe Sanchez; sister, Emily Grames, all of Fort Wayne; and numerous other relatives, McBride said.
GramesSanchez is the 60th member of the military from Indiana to die in the Mideast since the buildup for the invasion of Iraq began in 2003.
Another Elmhurst graduate, Army Cpl. Jonathan Blair, 21, died in Iraq in November.
amapes@jg.net
Ellie
Marine was inspired by Corps pride
By Angela Mapes
The Journal Gazette
Last August, Lance Cpl. David GramesSanchez signed an online guestbook honoring a fellow Marine, Capt. Brian Chontosh, who was awarded the Navy Cross for single-handedly clearing 200 yards of enemy trench line.
“Marines like Brian inspire me,” GramesSanchez wrote. “I am glad to call him my brother.”
Family members recalled that pride in the U.S. Marine Corps on Saturday, even as they mourned GramesSanchez’s death.
The 22-year-old Fort Wayne native and three other Marines were killed when their tank rolled into a canal near Karmah, 50 miles west of Baghdad, Iraq, in Anbar province. They were assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5.
An earlier report incorrectly identified GramesSanchez as David Sanchez.
His grandfather, James Grames Sr., a Marine who fought in the Korean War, said he and his grandson had dinner before GramesSanchez left for his second tour of duty in Iraq.
“He strongly believed what he was doing in Iraq was for the good of the cause and for the good of the United States,” Grames said.
Grames said he was pleased when his grandson joined the Marines.
“We’ll never know where the future would have gone for him, but we’re glad he went as far as he did,” Grames said.
GramesSanchez’s father, Dave Grames, said he was incredibly proud of the man his son had become.
“He was quite a spirit,” Dave Grames said. “There was never a dull moment when he was around.”
The decision to join the Marines was one GramesSanchez made on his own, and his reasons were twofold, his father said. GramesSanchez wanted to be “a member of the best,” and wanted to follow in his grandfather’s footsteps.
His aunt, Cathy McBride of Fort Wayne, said Saturday that she will remember GramesSanchez, a 2003 Elmhurst High School graduate, as a family-oriented, honorable person.
“He was just a hell-raiser who turned his life around and truly became from a boy to a man,” McBride said. “He was very proud to follow in his grandpa’s footsteps.”
GramesSanchez always made time for his family when he was home and was great with children, his aunt said.
He also was a dedicated athlete. The former Elmhurst wrestler ran marathons in Iraq on his first tour there, McBride said.
On Dec. 30, he married fellow Elmhurst graduate Lindsay Walsh. The couple first dated in ninth grade and remained friends, Dave Grames said. GramesSanchez’s future wife contacted him while he was serving his first tour of duty in Iraq, from September 2004 through March 2005, and began dating again when GramesSanchez returned home.
His wife had been staying with her parents and was planning to go to North Carolina in June to look for the couple’s first home together, McBride said.
That won’t happen now, and the family will meet today to discuss funeral arrangements. No arrangements have been made yet, since the family is waiting for the military to send the remains to Fort Wayne, McBride said.
GramesSanchez also is survived by a 2-year-son, Corbin, who lives in Florida; his father and father’s fiancee, Lory Burton; mother, Lupe Sanchez; sister, Emily Grames, all of Fort Wayne; and numerous other relatives, McBride said.
GramesSanchez is the 60th member of the military from Indiana to die in the Mideast since the buildup for the invasion of Iraq began in 2003.
Another Elmhurst graduate, Army Cpl. Jonathan Blair, 21, died in Iraq in November.
amapes@jg.net
Ellie