thedrifter
07-13-09, 08:11 AM
Fallen marine to arrive home this week
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July 13, 2009 - 8:37 AM
Keren Rivas / Times-News
Roger Hager joined the U.S. Marines with the intention of making a career out of it.
"His goal was to retire form the Marines and become a police officer," his mother, Elaine Farren, said. The way he figured it, she said, he could retire in his mid-40s.
But life seldom respects our wishes. Instead, Lance Cpl. Hager will be buried later this week at the Gibsonville City Cemetery.
"He is supposed to take care of me when I am sick, he’s supposed to bury me, not me bury him," a tearful Farren said, looking at a picture of her son — the only palpable memory she has now of the boy who always made her laugh.
Hager, who graduated from Western Alamance High School in 2008, died Wednesday in Afghanistan when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device. The U.S. Department of Defense said in a release that Hager was one of two Marines who died that day as a result of the explosion. He was 20.
Escorted by his older brother, 22-year-old Jeremy Scott Hager, also a Marine, his remains are expected to arrive at the Burlington-Alamance Airport from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this week, Farren said. In keeping with his wishes, Hager will be cremated, she added.
According to a casualty report, Hager died immediately after impact outside a medical facility in Fiddler’s Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. He was pronounced dead at 19:26 hours. The report also said his Humvee was the first of a four-vehicle convoy.
Still unable to fully grasp the news, Farren sat in front of a picture of Hager and talked to him during a recent visit to her Gibsonville home.
"I told him to come home," Farren said she told her son. "He’s not dead. I can’t picture him dead."
She said the reality of his death will probably hit her once she sees the casket containing his remains.
Hager’s father, Steve Graves, ofTennessee, plans to be at the local airport to welcome his son. Though he and Hager were not in constant contact, the two had a great relationship, he said.
"We didn’t get to spend much time together as we’re supposed to," Graves, 48, said. But, he added, "I loved him very much. He’s really going to be missed."
He said his son loved the outdoors — fishing, hiking, and hunting. Whenever he came to visit him in Tennessee, the two would go fishing, he said. "If I had a bad day he’d made me laugh one way or another," he said. "It’s just the kind of person he was."
He added, "I wish I would have told him how proud I was and that I loved him."
Ellie
Comments | Recommend
July 13, 2009 - 8:37 AM
Keren Rivas / Times-News
Roger Hager joined the U.S. Marines with the intention of making a career out of it.
"His goal was to retire form the Marines and become a police officer," his mother, Elaine Farren, said. The way he figured it, she said, he could retire in his mid-40s.
But life seldom respects our wishes. Instead, Lance Cpl. Hager will be buried later this week at the Gibsonville City Cemetery.
"He is supposed to take care of me when I am sick, he’s supposed to bury me, not me bury him," a tearful Farren said, looking at a picture of her son — the only palpable memory she has now of the boy who always made her laugh.
Hager, who graduated from Western Alamance High School in 2008, died Wednesday in Afghanistan when the Humvee he was riding in was hit by an improvised explosive device. The U.S. Department of Defense said in a release that Hager was one of two Marines who died that day as a result of the explosion. He was 20.
Escorted by his older brother, 22-year-old Jeremy Scott Hager, also a Marine, his remains are expected to arrive at the Burlington-Alamance Airport from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware this week, Farren said. In keeping with his wishes, Hager will be cremated, she added.
According to a casualty report, Hager died immediately after impact outside a medical facility in Fiddler’s Green, a Marine fire base in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province. He was pronounced dead at 19:26 hours. The report also said his Humvee was the first of a four-vehicle convoy.
Still unable to fully grasp the news, Farren sat in front of a picture of Hager and talked to him during a recent visit to her Gibsonville home.
"I told him to come home," Farren said she told her son. "He’s not dead. I can’t picture him dead."
She said the reality of his death will probably hit her once she sees the casket containing his remains.
Hager’s father, Steve Graves, ofTennessee, plans to be at the local airport to welcome his son. Though he and Hager were not in constant contact, the two had a great relationship, he said.
"We didn’t get to spend much time together as we’re supposed to," Graves, 48, said. But, he added, "I loved him very much. He’s really going to be missed."
He said his son loved the outdoors — fishing, hiking, and hunting. Whenever he came to visit him in Tennessee, the two would go fishing, he said. "If I had a bad day he’d made me laugh one way or another," he said. "It’s just the kind of person he was."
He added, "I wish I would have told him how proud I was and that I loved him."
Ellie