| The
Oregonian
Hermiston Marine dies in Iraq
Lance Cpl. James B. Huston Jr., 22, described as quiet, had planned his next hunting trip with his father
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
RYAN FRANK
A 22-year-old Marine from Hermiston who loved hunting, hard rock music and science fiction fantasy drawings has died in an accident in Iraq.
Lance Cpl. James B. Huston Jr. drowned Friday morning, Iraqi time, after his Humvee slid into a canal, flipped over and pinned him underneath. Huston, the gunner atop the Humvee, and his unit were on their way to secure the site of an explosion in Anbar province, his family said.
Huston's parents, Jim and Shirley Huston of Hermiston, learned of their son's death with a knock on the door Friday.
Huston had once planned to be a diesel mechanic but switched to infantry "to be a full 100 percent warrior who was actually doing something," said Huston's brother, Matthew, 21, who is in the U.S. Navy.
"Our parents were worried, but I wasn't," his brother said Monday. "I always thought he'd come back home and joke about it. I still can't believe he's not coming home."
James Huston was the sixth Marine to die in the past month in Anbar province, a Sunni-dominated area west of the Iraqi capital that has been a hotbed of anti-U.S. resistance.
More than 850 U.S. service members have died since March 2003, the beginning of military operations in Iraq, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
Huston is the 25th soldier -- along with two civilian contractors -- with Oregon connections killed in the Iraq war. One Oregon soldier died in Afghanistan.
"We're all very proud of him," Huston's cousin, Cherie Huston, said from his parents' home Monday. "Uncle Jim is pretty devastated."
Huston graduated in 2000 from Hermiston High School, where he was involved with the 4-H Club.
After graduation, he worked for his father's excavating company, operating a jack hammer, among other tasks.
Huston decided to join the Marines in June 2001 but waited until October to enlist so he wouldn't miss the archery hunting season. He learned from his father how to stalk elk and deer, and, along with his younger brother, adopted a slogan: "If it runs, it's done. If it flies, it dies."
Huston returned home for Christmas leave last year.
But before he left California's Camp Pendleton, Huston's commanders told the company's Marines to get their affairs in order "because some of them would not be coming home," Cherie Huston said.
Huston tried to reassure his parents when he shipped out.
"Think of all of the married Marines with kids," he wrote his parents. "Not some punk like me."
In April, Huston told an embedded newspaper reporter that he didn't expect such heavy fighting in Iraq, according to a report in the North County Times of Southern California.
"Not like this," he told the reporter as he sat in a sandbagged pit covered in flies and battle gear. "This is crazy."
Huston's military picture shows a lantern-jawed, clean-shaven solider.
But Cherie Huston said her cousin was a snowboarder who wore short brown hair with the tips dyed blond.
Cherie Huston said she will remember her cousin for all the times he played with her children.
"They loved him," she said.
Huston liked to draw science fiction fantasy pictures -- like artist Boris Vallejo -- and listen to hard rock bands Pantera and Slayer.
"The harder the better," Cherie Huston said.
But Huston never revealed much about himself, even with his closest friends and family, Cherie Huston said.
"James was a very private, quiet soul," said Cherie Huston, a baby sitter and diaper-changer when her cousin was young.
Huston's family gathered at his parents' house over the weekend.
In addition to his parents and brother, Huston is survived by another brother, Shane, 33, of Newberg; and a sister, Shannon Huston Davis, 36, of Galax, Va.
Huston's body was flown to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday. His family hasn't made plans for his memorial service.
Huston had been awarded several honors, including the Navy and Marine Corps achievement medal and the Armed Forces expeditionary medal.
He was scheduled to return home in October, Cherie Huston said.
In a letter home, Huston told his family he was tired of the fighting and ready to hunt again, she said.
He already had planned his next hunting trip with his father.
News researcher Lynne Palombo, reporter Michelle Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Ryan Frank:
ryanfrank(at)news.oregonian.com |
