Tulsa World: Marines' dedication remembered

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Marines' dedication remembered

By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Published: 11/19/2005 6:04 AM
Last Modified: 5/21/2008 11:39 AM

The two Oklahoma men were killed Wednesday fighting insurgents in Iraq.

U.S. Marine Cpls. Jeffry Rogers and Joshua Ware shared more in common than their devotion to "Semper Fi." They were two young Oklahoma men serving in the same squad halfway around the world.

On Wednesday, the two died together while taking control of a farm house from insurgents in Ubaydi, Iraq.

"I'm sure they were friends," Lanny Asepermy, a family friend of Ware's, said Friday of the two fallen Marines.

Rogers, a 21-year-old squad leader from Yukon, and Ware, a 20-year-old from Apache, were among four Marines killed during the same firefight in Ubaydi, a hotbed for terrorists near the Syrian border.

They were the second and third Oklahomans killed in Iraq this week. Army Pfc. Travis Grigg, a 24-year-old from Inola, died Tuesday when a bomb detonated near his unit's Humvee in Taji.

All four Marines who died in Ubaydi were assigned to Battalion Landing Team 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 13th Marine Expeditionary Unit, I Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Pendleton, Calif, according to reports. They had only arrived in Iraq in the past 30 days.

"They weren't supposed to get off the boat" near Kuwait, said Janet Rogers, the Yukon Marine's mother. However, the Marines were called into Iraq during recent elections and to participate in Operation Steel Curtain, a concentrated cleanout

of insurgent hideouts in the border region.

This week's battle wasn't Ware's first trial under fire. Last year he participated in the Marines' successful, yet costly, door-to-door fight to retake Fallujah.

"He saw a lot of action," Asepermy said. "His unit suffered 34 percent casualties, with 11 killed."

Although Ware, a member of the Kiowa tribe, grew up around Apache in Caddo County, he finished his senior year at Roland High School in Sequoyah County.

Roland High Principal Gary Lattimore remembered a confident, athletic teenager who always seemed to know where he was going in life.

"He was someone who seemed satisfied with himself, who had a little direction," Lattimore said. "He wasn't cocky, but he was sure of himself."

Ware entered the Marines within days of his high school graduation in May 2003, Asepermy said. His personal military awards include the Combat Action Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal and other honors.

Rogers graduated from Putnam City North High School in 2002, his mother noted. He also joined the Marines within a month of his commencement.

"He was a really bright young man," Janet Rogers said. "Jeff joined by choice. After 9/11, Jeff and two buddies decided they wanted to give back to their country."

Rogers was his parents' only child. Ware is survived by his parents and several siblings.

Janet Rogers met her son's fellow Oklahoma Marine when she visited the Marines before shipping out from Camp Pendleton earlier this year. In fact, she spent time with Ware and several of Rogers' other squad members.

"I bought tacos for all of them," she recalled.

Killed with Ware and Rogers were Lance Cpl. Roger Deeds, 24, of Biloxi, Miss., and Lance Cpl. John A. Lucente, 19, of Grass Valley, Calif., according to Marine reports.

Deeds, Ware and Rogers were killed by small arms fire, while Lucente died from wounds received from an enemy hand grenade, according to a Camp Pendleton news release.

Marine officials apparently told Ware's family that the squad was going door to door, checking for insurgents and weapons in Ubaydi, Asepermy said. The battle started when an enemy grenade was set off, then other insurgents started shooting, he added.

"They took out all 16 insur gents," Asepermy said. "They died in a furious gun battle."

Ware's friend also recalled that the young Oklahoma Marine, although a little quieter after his experience in Fallujah, showed no reluctance in returning to the front lines of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He even wrote to family members about going on "another adventure," his friend noted.

"Josh's last mission was complete," Asepermy said. "He's definitely a fallen warrior."

Rogers' military awards include the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal, among others. His mother said he spent the first part of his Marine career helping guard nuclear warheads.

In Iraq, she pointed out, he was a natural choice to lead men into battle.

"Jeff was an expert rifleman," Janet Rogers said. "He was a good Marine."

Rod Walton 581-8457
rod.walton@tulsaworld.com

By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer

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