so close to home
Local Marine killed in Iraq: 19-year-old was graduate of Juanita High
By Sara Jean Green
Seattle Times staff reporter
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Last week, U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Nathan Raymond Wood sent his last e-mail home to Kirkland. He didn't go into detail but told his family something big was about to happen in Fallujah, saying they should look out for news about a railway station in the besieged Iraqi city.
U.S. and Iraqi forces launched an aggressive assault on insurgents in Fallujah, capturing the railway station Monday. "When we heard they had secured the station, we thought he was safe," said Wood's uncle, Bill Olson of Bothell.
Wood, 19, died the next morning. A member of the Marines' 3rd Battalion, 1st Expeditionary force, Lima Company, based at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Wood and his unit were conducting a door-to-door sweep through an apartment building when he was killed.
"They thought they had taken the building ... but an insurgent in there fired on them," Olson said. "Nathan took a bullet to the head and one to the chest. He died instantly."
Wood, a 2003 Juanita High School graduate, joined the Marines with a half-dozen friends from his graduating class, his uncle said. Juanita High students learned of Wood's death yesterday morning and observed a moment of silence during a Veterans Day assembly, said Lake Washington School District spokesman Peter Daniels.
Wood's sister, Gretchen, is a senior at the school. She lives with her parents, DeEtte and Rex Wood, in Kirkland.
Wood was deployed to Iraq in early September. His best friend, who was injured Tuesday in a different part of Fallujah, spoke with men in Wood's unit and relayed information home, Olson said.
"The words they used - they said, 'It was a slaughterhouse,' " with far more casualties than first thought, Olson said.
Wood was born in Great Falls, Mont., and moved with his family to Kirkland when he was 7, Olson said. He was "a very quiet, reserved kid" who had a wide circle of friends. He was an avid fisherman who loved camping and working on cars.
Peer pressure may have played a role in his nephew's decision to enlist, Olson said, adding that Wood's parents didn't want him to join the Marines but supported his choice. Wood was hoping to get money for college, Olson said.
"He felt the U.S. was invincible; he didn't think it would be a big war, and he thought he was pretty tough," Olson said. "I think when he got over to Iraq, he wasn't very happy. He wanted to come back to Washington."
Wood's body should be returned to the United States within days.
"Nathan is everybody's boy. He's about as American as they get," Olson said. "He was well-loved and he will be missed."
As for Wood's friends who are still fighting in Fallujah, Olson said, "we just want those kids to come home. Just get the job done and get out of there."
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*sigh* happy veteran's day, everyone. enjoy a day off school ..... remember those who give their lives for us.