thedrifter
02-19-07, 07:51 AM
Va. Marine died a hero, mother says
BY MICHAEL L. OWENS
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Monday, February 19, 2007
RAPHINE -- Carol Wendell wants to keep her oldest son, Daniel T. Morris, as close to the family as possible.
"We thought about Arlington [National Cemetery], but it's so far away," Wendell said. "It's so big, and we want to be able to find him and we want to be able to go there anytime we want."
So the Marine lance corporal will be buried in a church cemetery in the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley.
Morris, 19, died in Iraq's Anbar province early Wednesday after finding a mine in a car stopped at a security checkpoint.
Marines delivered the news to Wendell's front door on Wednesday. She didn't sleep that night.
She spent Thursday on the couch covered by a comforter.
"Whether he was there for six months or six years, he was a hero," Wendell said. "He was my hero before he went."
Morris arrived in Iraq in September for an eight-month combat tour. He quickly began to mail his mother stories about giving candy to the children and forging friendships with members of the Iraqi police force. They didn't want the Marines to ever leave, he wrote.
Morris, with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, was to return to his station in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, by the end of March.
"He told us a couple of times that he didn't think the job was done over there . . . and he might re-up [re-enlist]," said Donnie Moneymaker, Wendell's fiancé.
Since childhood, Morris had dreamed of joining the military or becoming a police officer.
"He was going to be in the CIA, the Secret Service and all that," Wendell said.
Morris grew up in the Crimora community of Augusta County and played the trumpet for the Wilson Memorial High School marching band. He enlisted in the Marines after graduation in 2005.
"As a mom, you know, I was afraid for him," Wendell said. "But he was determined, and I raised him to make his decisions."
After he enlisted, the family moved from Crimora to Raphine in Rockbridge County.
Wendell knew her son had died when she saw Marines at her door Wednesday. Before Morris left, she had been told that news of an injury would come by phone; word of death comes in person.
It was about 4 p.m. when the messengers arrived. It was cold, and power to her home had been knocked out by an ice storm the previous night.
"It didn't hit me for a couple of seconds. When they came to the door I thought . . . I still don't believe it," Wendell said. "I never thought they'd come to see me."
Michael L. Owens is a staff writer at The News Virginian in Waynesboro
Ellie
BY MICHAEL L. OWENS
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Monday, February 19, 2007
RAPHINE -- Carol Wendell wants to keep her oldest son, Daniel T. Morris, as close to the family as possible.
"We thought about Arlington [National Cemetery], but it's so far away," Wendell said. "It's so big, and we want to be able to find him and we want to be able to go there anytime we want."
So the Marine lance corporal will be buried in a church cemetery in the rolling hills of the Shenandoah Valley.
Morris, 19, died in Iraq's Anbar province early Wednesday after finding a mine in a car stopped at a security checkpoint.
Marines delivered the news to Wendell's front door on Wednesday. She didn't sleep that night.
She spent Thursday on the couch covered by a comforter.
"Whether he was there for six months or six years, he was a hero," Wendell said. "He was my hero before he went."
Morris arrived in Iraq in September for an eight-month combat tour. He quickly began to mail his mother stories about giving candy to the children and forging friendships with members of the Iraqi police force. They didn't want the Marines to ever leave, he wrote.
Morris, with the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, was to return to his station in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, by the end of March.
"He told us a couple of times that he didn't think the job was done over there . . . and he might re-up [re-enlist]," said Donnie Moneymaker, Wendell's fiancé.
Since childhood, Morris had dreamed of joining the military or becoming a police officer.
"He was going to be in the CIA, the Secret Service and all that," Wendell said.
Morris grew up in the Crimora community of Augusta County and played the trumpet for the Wilson Memorial High School marching band. He enlisted in the Marines after graduation in 2005.
"As a mom, you know, I was afraid for him," Wendell said. "But he was determined, and I raised him to make his decisions."
After he enlisted, the family moved from Crimora to Raphine in Rockbridge County.
Wendell knew her son had died when she saw Marines at her door Wednesday. Before Morris left, she had been told that news of an injury would come by phone; word of death comes in person.
It was about 4 p.m. when the messengers arrived. It was cold, and power to her home had been knocked out by an ice storm the previous night.
"It didn't hit me for a couple of seconds. When they came to the door I thought . . . I still don't believe it," Wendell said. "I never thought they'd come to see me."
Michael L. Owens is a staff writer at The News Virginian in Waynesboro
Ellie