Doing what he loved, a Jerseyan dies in Iraq

[Resident Smart Ass]

Hey all,

Yesterday at work, I found out that one of the guys who used to work in our crime scene unit who had recently retired lost his son, Chris Jr., who was killed in Iraq from a road side bombing. He was to return home in few weeks and was to get married. This is a huge loss to my colleagues family and to our office. Please say a prayer for Chris and his family.
Thanks

Tommy

______________________________ ______________________


Tuesday, October 03, 2006
BY LAURA JOHNSTON
Star-Ledger Staff
Chris Cosgrove was the kid who came to high school during Spirit Week dressed in camouflage, the kid who spoke about serving in the military before he even emerged from adolescence.

After high school, Cosgrove stopped by Whippany Park High School often, and most recently he spoke proudly about the Marines and his upcoming deployment.


Today, the high school will have a moment of silence for the 23-year-old Cedar Knolls man.

Marine Lance Cpl. Cosgrove was one of three Marines killed Sunday in Anbar province, according to the U.S. Central Command. He was the 61st service member with ties to New Jersey to die in Iraq.

Cosgrove, who was assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5, and another Marine died Sunday "from injuries sustained due to enemy action," according to a press release issued yesterday. A third Marine assigned to the same group died from a non-combat-related vehicle accident.

Several of Cosgrove's friends said they were told Cosgrove was working a checkpoint when it was attacked by a suicide bomber. Military officials said they were still investigating Cosgrove's death.

Although Cosgrove was a reservist with G Company of the 2nd Battalion, 25th Marines, based at Picatinny Arsenal, he was ordered to deploy to Iraq early this year with another unit that was based in Ayer, Mass., said Gunnery Sgt. Jay Johnson, a member of Cos grove's battalion.

"He saw they had a need," Johnson said. "We sent the best ones we had. He was one of them."

Cosgrove, a 2001 high school graduate, enlisted the summer be fore his senior year at Monmouth University, where he graduated in 2005 with a degree in history, said 1st Sgt. William Meisinger, who is serving as a casualty assistance officer for Cosgrove's family.

"He was a Marine through and through," he said, adding that Cos grove was a member of the Marine Corps League and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

In April, Cosgrove and more than 1,000 Marine reservists arrived in Fallujah, military officials said. They were scheduled to be there seven months.

The Marines were not initially supposed to be part of the force stabilizing Iraq after Baghdad fell in April 2003. Most of the units that took part in the invasion returned home in the months after Saddam Hussein's regime crumbled. But as the insurgency began to take hold, the Marines were sent back to Iraq's western Anbar province in spring 2004.


Since then, a contingent of about 20,000 Marines from the ac tive-duty and reserve forces has been on a constant seven-month rotation through the violent, Sunni-dominated area, about the size of Louisiana.

Last month, Marine command ers in Anbar warned the Pentagon in a classified report that as many as 20,000 more troops were needed to stabilize the restive area. Defense Department officials said the report, which was leaked to several news organizations, painted an overly pessimistic picture of the situation in Anbar.

Cosgrove was scheduled to re turn home in a few weeks, Mei singer said.

Yesterday, Cosgrove's friends remembered his years at Whippany Park High School and spoke about his devotion to the military.

"He was hard-core about going into the Marines ever since we got into high school," said Nick Gre gory, 22, who lived across the street from Cosgrove. "This kid, he would come over in his uniform and just talk about everything he was doing."

"I know it's what he always wanted to do," said another friend, Ryan Chapman, 22. "I know a couple people said it was an unjust way to go, but if you die doing what you've always wanted to ... I don't see anything wrong with protecting people's freedom. That's what he wanted."

In high school, Cosgrove played lacrosse and was one of the hardest workers on the football team, Whippany Park principal John Manning said.

"He wasn't the best kid on the field, but he was a great kid to have in the program, a team player who would do anything for the team," football coach Brent Kaiser said. "That's the kind of kid Chris was."

His friend Nick Marucci agreed.

"He just loved life and had a good time, wherever he was," said Marucci, 23, a football teammate. "He was very hardworking in the weight room, on the football field, on the practice field, the game field, that's the way he was."


When a teenage Cosgrove and his neighborhood buddies made movies with a video camera, Cos grove was the guy in all the action scenes, diving into bushes and get ting run over by a four-wheeler in the middle of the street, said Gre gory and James Dellaterza, 24, who lives next door to Cosgrove.

Cosgrove's yearbook quote was taken from football Hall of Fame coach John Madden:

"There are three types of people. People who make things happen, people who watch things happen and people who don't know what's happening."

Cosgrove -- "Cos" to Dellaterza -- made things happen, Dellaterza said. Quietly, almost James Bond- like, he did the things no one ex pected.

"The only thing he cared about was fighting for our country," Dellaterza said. "He did what he wanted to do. He was 100 percent for the military."

Cosgrove is survived by his mother, stepfather, two younger half-brothers and his father. Fu neral services had not been ar ranged as of last night.

[gozling]

I am so sorry for his family and those who loved him...

my thoughts are with him and I thank him for protecting me.

[Buttercup]

My thoughts and prayers are with his family, his friends, and your office.

[L.E. Psych]

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone. Please let his family know how greatful we are for his service for us and this country.

[CopsRCool302]

The Fallen Soldier

Don't weep for me
O' land of the free
When it was my time to fall
'Twas for my country's call
'Twas for the land that I loved
That I gave my all,
And for the land that I loved
I did freely give,
And in her freedom and her courage
I'll continue to live

[Hannibal]

JOHN 15:13 - No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends


A true hero. God Bless him and his loved ones for their sacrifice and honorable service to our country.