Justin21
06-10-2011, 10:29 PM
A close friend of mine was killed in combat yesterday, he was a marine, heres his story.
http://images.onset.freedom.com/gaston/medium/lmlih5-lmlifiggnicobrien1web.jpg
He was a warrior and a hero
The region of southern Afghanistan where Lance Cpl. Nic O�Brien was serving with the Marine Corps was so volatile, he was seldom able to communicate with family members here in Gaston County.
But on the rare occasion Richard O�Brien had a chance to talk with his son on the other side of the world, he detected not a hint of homesickness or fear.
�Every time I spoke with him, he said he was having fun,� Richard O�Brien said Friday, from his home in the Lucia community of Gaston County. �He was in firefights every day. But he told me this is what he�d trained for and what he wanted to do every day.�
Nic O�Brien, a 2008 graduate of East Gaston High School who made a name for himself as a local baseball and soccer player, died Thursday while serving his country. He celebrated his 21st birthday two weeks ago.
O�Brien�s battalion had begun a seven-month rotation in Afghanistan at the end of March. He and his fellow Marines were on routine foot patrol near the town of Sangin, in Helmand Province, when a roadside bomb exploded and killed him, said his father.
The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Afghanistan, or about 10 a.m. Thursday local time. Marine Corps officials delivered the news in person at the O�Briens� home late Thursday afternoon.
Word of the well-known athlete�s death spread quickly across Gaston County, and particularly in Stanley, where O�Brien grew up playing recreation baseball. Friends and loved ones began laying flowers, signs and baseballs in a makeshift memorial Friday at the baseball field near Kiser Elementary School.
�It's been a real rough day for us over here,� said Brian Johnson, an East Gaston teacher who was O�Brien�s soccer coach for four years. �This is such a huge loss.�
In addition to his father, O�Brien is survived by his mother, Tammy, and 16-year-old sister, Haley.
Eager athlete
O�Brien was 7 years old when he first joined the Stanley recreation program, said town recreation director Tug Deason. His coaches learned quickly that he would be an asset in more ways than one.
�Nic was a great athlete, but more than that, he was just a great kid,� said Deason. �He played with us from the time he was 7 until he was 17 or 18. He never gave you any problems.�
Baseball became as much a part of his life as anything else. At 13 and 14, he played on a successful Stanley all-star team that contended for a state championship, and was coached by Gaston County Commissioner and former Stanley Mayor Chad Brown.
Brown later was O�Brien�s assistant coach at East Gaston, and said the teenager was �full of energy.�
�He was just a jokester � just a loving kid,� he said. �I knew him as someone who was always having fun. But he was a class kid, too.�
O�Brien was a centerfielder for East Gaston�s baseball team, where he was named the defensive player of the year in his junior and senior years. Head coach Randy Sellers said no one could ever question O�Brien�s heart.
�I knew when it came time to play, Nic was going to give me all he had,� said Sellers. �You never had to worry about his desire to win or play hard. He was going to leave everything on the field.�
Johnson said O�Brien was just as invaluable as a midfielder on the soccer field, where he loved to compete, but also kept others from taking things too seriously.
�Our best memories of him were based on his ability to make anyone laugh at any given time,� said Johnson. �I remember getting frustrated with him sometimes, but then I�d turn around and he�d be doing something to make me crack up laughing.
�Even if he was doing something you didn�t like, it was impossible to be mad at him.�
Beyond athletics, O�Brien excelled in the classroom. He won the school�s Math Award in his junior year, said his Algebra II teacher, Chad Owens.
�He was very confident and very sure of himself in everything he did,� said Owens. �When he set his mind to do something, he went at it full force.�
O�Brien also played American Legion baseball for the Gaston Braves in 2007 and 2008. He wasn�t a superstar, but knew his role and was the ultimate hard-nosed team player, said Braves athletic officer, Jeff Gibson.
�He didn�t complain about playing time,� said Gibson. �When he got his opportunities, he made the best of them.�
O�Brien had another year of eligibility left to play Legion baseball after he graduated from high school. Gibson tried to talk him into taking advantage of that, to no avail.
�He had his mind made up at an early age,� said Gibson. �He had always wanted to go into the military.�
Fulfilling a dream
O�Brien�s father also served in the Marine Corps. His grandfather, Bill Bowen, the athletic officer for American Legion Post 23, is a Navy veteran.
Despite his parents� best efforts to talk him out of it, he never wavered in his goal of joining the armed forces. He turned down college scholarships, including an offer to continue playing baseball for Belmont Abbey College, said his father.
�He was very determined, to say the least,� said Richard O�Brien. �There was nothing I, my wife or anyone could do to dissuade him from his decision.�
After working part time for UPS after graduation, O�Brien not only became a Marine, he excelled at it. He joined the Corps in October 2009 and completed boot camp in early 2010 as an honor graduate, becoming the top shooter in his platoon.
His ultimate goal was to return home after his initial four- to five-year enlistment and use his tuition benefits to go to college, then eventually follow in his uncle�s footsteps and become a Charlotte firefighter, said Richard O�Brien.
O�Brien said goodbye to his family and his longtime girlfriend, Hayley Black of Stanley, before leaving for Camp Pendleton in California. The day before he deployed to Afghanistan in March, he sent his mother and father an email.
�He just said, �I love you guys and I know this is tough on you, but I�ve trained for this, I�ve prepared for this, and this is what we�re here to do,�� said his father.
O�Brien became close with a fellow Marine, Josh Cauthorne of Asheville, who he met at Camp Pendleton. Cauthorne was his fire teammate in Afghanistan, which meant the two spent most of every moment side by side.
Cauthorne was also severely injured in the roadside bomb blast Thursday.
Richard O�Brien said he and his wife were �very concerned� from the moment their son was deployed, particularly because of the reputation for Taliban violence in Helmand Province. Beyond some level of patriotism, he suspects his son may have seen a tour through the military as a rite of passage.
�You really don�t know with a kid that age,� he said. �The old saying in the military has always been, when you�re actually in combat, you�re not fighting for a country, a flag or a politician. You�re fighting for the guys next to you � for your buddies.�
On Saturday, when Nic O�Brien�s body is brought home to American soil in Dover, Del., his family will be there.
�My wife and I have been very blessed with both our children,� said Richard O�Brien. �Parents could not ask for better kids.�
O�Brien will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
�In his short life, he grew to be a class man,� said Richard O�Brien. �He was a warrior and a hero. And he deserves to be buried beside warriors.�
God speed Brother
http://images.onset.freedom.com/gaston/medium/lmlih5-lmlifiggnicobrien1web.jpg
He was a warrior and a hero
The region of southern Afghanistan where Lance Cpl. Nic O�Brien was serving with the Marine Corps was so volatile, he was seldom able to communicate with family members here in Gaston County.
But on the rare occasion Richard O�Brien had a chance to talk with his son on the other side of the world, he detected not a hint of homesickness or fear.
�Every time I spoke with him, he said he was having fun,� Richard O�Brien said Friday, from his home in the Lucia community of Gaston County. �He was in firefights every day. But he told me this is what he�d trained for and what he wanted to do every day.�
Nic O�Brien, a 2008 graduate of East Gaston High School who made a name for himself as a local baseball and soccer player, died Thursday while serving his country. He celebrated his 21st birthday two weeks ago.
O�Brien�s battalion had begun a seven-month rotation in Afghanistan at the end of March. He and his fellow Marines were on routine foot patrol near the town of Sangin, in Helmand Province, when a roadside bomb exploded and killed him, said his father.
The incident occurred about 6:30 p.m. Thursday in Afghanistan, or about 10 a.m. Thursday local time. Marine Corps officials delivered the news in person at the O�Briens� home late Thursday afternoon.
Word of the well-known athlete�s death spread quickly across Gaston County, and particularly in Stanley, where O�Brien grew up playing recreation baseball. Friends and loved ones began laying flowers, signs and baseballs in a makeshift memorial Friday at the baseball field near Kiser Elementary School.
�It's been a real rough day for us over here,� said Brian Johnson, an East Gaston teacher who was O�Brien�s soccer coach for four years. �This is such a huge loss.�
In addition to his father, O�Brien is survived by his mother, Tammy, and 16-year-old sister, Haley.
Eager athlete
O�Brien was 7 years old when he first joined the Stanley recreation program, said town recreation director Tug Deason. His coaches learned quickly that he would be an asset in more ways than one.
�Nic was a great athlete, but more than that, he was just a great kid,� said Deason. �He played with us from the time he was 7 until he was 17 or 18. He never gave you any problems.�
Baseball became as much a part of his life as anything else. At 13 and 14, he played on a successful Stanley all-star team that contended for a state championship, and was coached by Gaston County Commissioner and former Stanley Mayor Chad Brown.
Brown later was O�Brien�s assistant coach at East Gaston, and said the teenager was �full of energy.�
�He was just a jokester � just a loving kid,� he said. �I knew him as someone who was always having fun. But he was a class kid, too.�
O�Brien was a centerfielder for East Gaston�s baseball team, where he was named the defensive player of the year in his junior and senior years. Head coach Randy Sellers said no one could ever question O�Brien�s heart.
�I knew when it came time to play, Nic was going to give me all he had,� said Sellers. �You never had to worry about his desire to win or play hard. He was going to leave everything on the field.�
Johnson said O�Brien was just as invaluable as a midfielder on the soccer field, where he loved to compete, but also kept others from taking things too seriously.
�Our best memories of him were based on his ability to make anyone laugh at any given time,� said Johnson. �I remember getting frustrated with him sometimes, but then I�d turn around and he�d be doing something to make me crack up laughing.
�Even if he was doing something you didn�t like, it was impossible to be mad at him.�
Beyond athletics, O�Brien excelled in the classroom. He won the school�s Math Award in his junior year, said his Algebra II teacher, Chad Owens.
�He was very confident and very sure of himself in everything he did,� said Owens. �When he set his mind to do something, he went at it full force.�
O�Brien also played American Legion baseball for the Gaston Braves in 2007 and 2008. He wasn�t a superstar, but knew his role and was the ultimate hard-nosed team player, said Braves athletic officer, Jeff Gibson.
�He didn�t complain about playing time,� said Gibson. �When he got his opportunities, he made the best of them.�
O�Brien had another year of eligibility left to play Legion baseball after he graduated from high school. Gibson tried to talk him into taking advantage of that, to no avail.
�He had his mind made up at an early age,� said Gibson. �He had always wanted to go into the military.�
Fulfilling a dream
O�Brien�s father also served in the Marine Corps. His grandfather, Bill Bowen, the athletic officer for American Legion Post 23, is a Navy veteran.
Despite his parents� best efforts to talk him out of it, he never wavered in his goal of joining the armed forces. He turned down college scholarships, including an offer to continue playing baseball for Belmont Abbey College, said his father.
�He was very determined, to say the least,� said Richard O�Brien. �There was nothing I, my wife or anyone could do to dissuade him from his decision.�
After working part time for UPS after graduation, O�Brien not only became a Marine, he excelled at it. He joined the Corps in October 2009 and completed boot camp in early 2010 as an honor graduate, becoming the top shooter in his platoon.
His ultimate goal was to return home after his initial four- to five-year enlistment and use his tuition benefits to go to college, then eventually follow in his uncle�s footsteps and become a Charlotte firefighter, said Richard O�Brien.
O�Brien said goodbye to his family and his longtime girlfriend, Hayley Black of Stanley, before leaving for Camp Pendleton in California. The day before he deployed to Afghanistan in March, he sent his mother and father an email.
�He just said, �I love you guys and I know this is tough on you, but I�ve trained for this, I�ve prepared for this, and this is what we�re here to do,�� said his father.
O�Brien became close with a fellow Marine, Josh Cauthorne of Asheville, who he met at Camp Pendleton. Cauthorne was his fire teammate in Afghanistan, which meant the two spent most of every moment side by side.
Cauthorne was also severely injured in the roadside bomb blast Thursday.
Richard O�Brien said he and his wife were �very concerned� from the moment their son was deployed, particularly because of the reputation for Taliban violence in Helmand Province. Beyond some level of patriotism, he suspects his son may have seen a tour through the military as a rite of passage.
�You really don�t know with a kid that age,� he said. �The old saying in the military has always been, when you�re actually in combat, you�re not fighting for a country, a flag or a politician. You�re fighting for the guys next to you � for your buddies.�
On Saturday, when Nic O�Brien�s body is brought home to American soil in Dover, Del., his family will be there.
�My wife and I have been very blessed with both our children,� said Richard O�Brien. �Parents could not ask for better kids.�
O�Brien will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
�In his short life, he grew to be a class man,� said Richard O�Brien. �He was a warrior and a hero. And he deserves to be buried beside warriors.�
God speed Brother