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thedrifter
01-19-09, 06:18 AM
A sense of duty ends in death
Marine with Brighton ties mourned after Iraq incident

By Matt Collette, Globe Correspondent | January 19, 2009

Sergeant Marquis Porter had served two tours of duty with the Marine Corps when he volunteered for a third.

Having grown up in the Fidelis Way housing development in Brighton - his father out of the picture - he felt duty-bound to provide a living for his wife, Shay, and three young daughters, said friends and relatives.

Craig Meyer, of Weston, was Porter's mentor in the Big Brother program for two decades, since Meyer was in law school and Porter was 8 years old. "Being part of the Big Brother program, a lot of the young boys don't have a positive consistent male role model - a father in their lives - and that was the case for Marquis," said Meyer. "He has a wife and three kids, and he wanted to provide for them. I think it was all part of being a Marine for him: doing his duty."

Porter died Jan. 11 in the Anbar Province in Iraq, in what the Defense Department described Friday as a "nonhostile incident." No specifics on Porter's death were released, and the occurrence remains under investigation. He had worked as a radio operator and was assigned to the Second Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, Second Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., the Pentagon said.

He would have turned 29 on Jan. 17.

Porter attended the Beaver Country Day School in Chestnut Hill on a full academic scholarship, and he was a member of the school's lacrosse and wrestling teams. In June, 1998, just after his high school graduation, Porter enlisted in the Marine Corps. For the past 10 years, he has lived on military bases across the country. His last residence was in California.

"It was a dream of his," said his older sister, Celese Jackson, of Brockton. "He was going to be in the Marines until, whenever. That was his career."

When he was home from war, Porter tried to mentor young men, directing them toward a successful future, his sister said.

"He was always one to talk to younger kids and try to get them to go on the right road, to tell them what they should be doing and what they shouldn't be doing," said Jackson.

All of his life, Porter was curious about the world around him, Meyer said.

"When I first met him and asked him questions about himself, I asked him what his favorite TV show was, and he said 'NOVA.' I asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, and he said an entomologist [who studies insects]," Meyer said. "I had to go look that one up."

In the days since Porter's death, his family remains in shock. They have received few details about how he died.

"We are mortified, we are devastated," said Jackson.

His funeral will be held Thursday in Hemet, Calif. Burial at Riverside National Cemetery will follow.

Ellie