Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron H. Reed

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Lance Cpl. Aaron H. Reed, 21, of Chillicothe, Ohio.

Lance Cpl Reed died when his Amphibious Assault Vehicle was hit by an improvised explosive device during combat operations south of Haditha, Iraq. He was assigned to Marine Force Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Columbus, Ohio. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, he was attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

Aaron H. Reed was many things to many people. He was the boy who never gave up on the track team. He was the one who taught his friend how to drive a standard truck. A man that friends said would make a great father someday. All who knew him recalled his smile and his laugh. They remembered when he laughed he would push his glasses up. Nearly every photo of Reed, with the exception of his military picture, shows his trademark grin.

“He was always somebody who could make you smile,” said Billie Baxter, a friend. “And he was always really talkative.”

Reed, 21, of Chillicothe, Ohio, died Aug. 3 when his vehicle was hit by an explosive south of Haditha. He was stationed at Columbus.

Reed, a 2001 high school graduate, was a popular student who ran on the track and cross country teams and was senior class president.

“He was a great cook,” recalled friend Abbey Coates.

“Especially breakfast — eggs, bacon, sausage and gravy, biscuits, and he used garlic in everything. Then he left his mess for us to clean up,” she said with a laugh.

He is survived by his father, Stephen, and mother, Sara Duvall.

Lance Cpl. Aaron Reed, 21, of Chillicothe, a 2001 Southeastern High School graduate, was one of nine reservists killed from Lima Company based in Columbus. He is the second Ross County native to die in the Iraq war - both this year.

"He's sure going to be missed at home," Reed's friend, Jamie Barker, told NBC 4 News. "He actually called my brother on Sunday to tell him he was going to be coming home next month."

Fourteen Marines were killed in the roadside bombing. The Marines were members of the 3rd Battalion, 25th Marines based out of Brook Park outside Cleveland, according to Gunnery Sgt. Brad R. Lauer, public affairs chief with the unit.

The Marines, assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), were killed early Wednesday when an improvised explosive device hit their vehicle, the military said. Another Marine was wounded in the attack, which happened outside Haditha, about 140 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Reed's mother, Sara Duvall, is an art teacher in the Southeastern school district. In 2001, Reed graduated from the school, where he ran cross country and served as senior class president.

Duvall, who has another son, Matthew Reed, in the military and stationed in Afghanistan, was notified of Reed's death Wednesday, and the Defense Department released the name Thursday.

Marine Lance Cpl Aaron H. Reed was killed in action on 08/03/05.