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thedrifter
05-21-04, 09:22 PM
Fallen: Aaron C. Austin, Marine Lance Corporal




UNION-TRIBUNE
May 21, 2004

Lance Cpl. Aaron C. Austin was getting married in December.

The 21-year-old Marine was on the telephone from Iraq when he proposed to his girlfriend, Tiffany Frank, and they made many of their wedding plans separated by thousands of miles.

Austin was on his second tour of duty there, this time as a machine-gunner. On April 26, he was killed in an onslaught by insurgents near Fallujah, among the areas where resistance to coalition forces has been the most violent.

"They were under horrible, horrible attack," said his mother, De'on Miller of Lovington, N.M.

Miller has gathered details of her son's death from surviving members of his unit and journalists who were in the area at the time. Word is Austin managed to throw a grenade from a rooftop even after being shot in the chest, helping hold back enemy fire long enough for the Marines to call in support.

Austin joined the Marines about a month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

After graduating from high school in a city of fewer than 10,000 people, dominated by the oil industry, Austin wasn't quite ready to move on to college. He planned to use the GI Bill later for his education.

Miller herself had served three years in the Army in Panama, but Austin "wanted to be a hero and a tough Marine," she said.

A native of Moore, Texas, Austin loved to dance and to barbecue for his friends.

Austin's final letter to his mother, dated April 22, arrived shortly after his death. As usual, it didn't dwell on the situation in Iraq. Austin said only that "it is still crazy over here" but was more interested in finding out what was happening with his family and friends back home.

"Aaron loved what he was doing with the Marines and it felt natural to him," said an aunt, Robbie Ferneau, of Anaheim Hills. "He felt it was an opportunity for him to do something positive with his life."

"If Aaron had a choice for leaving this Earth," she added, "this would have been the way: serving his country."


– Jeff Ristine


http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/iraq/memorial/20040521-9999-1m21austin.html


Ellie


Rest In Peace