Ivan I. Wilson, Marines, Pvt. 1st Class -- Rest In Peace

Ivan I. Wilson, 22

Marines, Private 1st Class
Based: Twentynine Palms, Calif.
2nd Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force
Supporting: Operation Enduring Freedom
Died: July 21, 2008
Helmand province, Afghanistan
Single
Gender: Male
Hometown: Clearlake
High School: Lower Lake High (Lower Lake)
Burial: Lower Lake Cemetery

Willie, we all miss you and wish you were here with us still. You were a great friend and a damn fine Marine. You will never be forgoten. Miss ya buddy.
Love ya,
McNugget
— Byron McDonald III
July 9, 2010 at 10:21 a.m.

Ivan, just a note to let you know I miss you so much and as I go forth, I want you to know I will always love you and you will never be forgotten-Your in my heart forever. May you rest now...your work is done here on earth and I will continue to share your legacy with all those that have loved and supported us this past year! Save me a place where ever u are.
Love ya, mean it Your Momma
— Denise Wilson
July 19, 2009 at 4:16 p.m.

From the LA Times:

The opening line of Ivan Wilson's last letter home to his mother had a poignant resonance at his memorial service.

"I guess you might say we've reached our final destination."

Father Ron Serban read Wilson's words, describing his Marine unit's arrival at a desert base in Afghanistan, for the overflow crowd gathered Aug. 16 at his hometown church in the small Northern California town of Clearlake.

The 22-year-old lance corporal penned the upbeat note, complete with smiles and doodles, in May. He was killed in a bomb explosion July 21.

The letter reached his mother just days before his funeral at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church, where Wilson grew up taking religious classes and attending youth group activities.

He was the first member of the military from Lake County, which stretches through the forests north of San Francisco, to die in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Stocky, red-headed and with an inquisitive mind, Wilson struggled at times to find his way, Serban said, but appeared to have taken a turn for the better in the Marines, which he joined in September 2005.


"It looked like he had found his niche," the priest said. "I think his life was in a very positive transition."


Fellow Marines recalled that Wilson would volunteer to be the point man, the first one to get out of their Humvee to check out a suspicious situation. "He had really risked his life, putting himself in front of other troops," Serban said.

Read the entire LA Times article about Marine Private 1st Class. Ivan I. Wilson here, Find more here at the Press Democrat and here at Lake County News. Visit Ivan I. Wilson's Guest Book.

Portrait of Marine Private Ivan I. Wilson is found at Fallen Heroes Project. Marine Private Ivan I. Wilson previously remebered at Boom3 on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.