Remember Our Heroes
Marine Lance Cpl. Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr., 22, of Tallmadge, Ohio
Lance Cpl Deyarmin was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve, Brook Park, Ohio; attached to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward); killed Aug. 1 by enemy small-arms fire while conducting dismounted operations outside Haditha, Iraq. Also killed were Marine Cpl. Jeffrey A. Boskovitch, Marine Lance Cpl. Roger D. Castleberry Jr., Marine Sgt. David J. Coullard, Marine Lance Cpl. Brian P. Montgomery and Marine Sgt. Nathaniel S. Rock.
Lance Cpl. Daniel Nathan Deyarmin turned 22 just two days before he was killed Monday.
Deyarmin, of Tallmadge, graduated in 2002 from Tallmadge High School, where he played football, said his sister Erica, 23. He hoped to open a rental property business when he returned from Iraq.
Deyarmin enjoyed racing dirt bikes and four-wheelers through Tallmadge, east of Akron in northeast Ohio. He also wanted to restore cars, his sister said.
“That was his favorite thing to do,” she said.
Before leaving for duty, Deyarmin was one of four Marines who spoke to students at a local middle school about serving in Iraq.
“He believed in his country,” Erica Deyarmin said. “He loved being a Marine.”
Daniel Nathan Deyarmin Jr. loved pranks. He would lock relatives out and make them call themselves names. He would clean his room under orders and paint on the ceiling "I got even!" Then he would giggle and slap his knee.
Thousands stood at attention as the procession passed. In many ways, it resembled a Fourth of July parade: motorcycles, souped-up cars, pickup trucks, historical cars and acres of flags.
Except when these vehicles passed, they were greeted with silence, not marching bands and children eager for candy.
Old, leathery men saluted their fresh-faced replacements. Women wiped their tears. Neighbors comforted each other. Children stood silently, holding signs, thanking a man they never met for freedoms they will come to understand.
On Thursday, a town said farewell.
The heading on the funeral program simply stated: ``In Celebration L. Cpl. Daniel Nathan Deyarmin.''
That was exactly the tone of the afternoon funeral service and procession for Tallmadge's fallen Marine hero.
Inside the sanctuary of the Donovan Funeral Home, more than 400 mourners, some pressed against the back walls two or three deep, crowded to honor Deyarmin, who died with five other Marines in Iraq on Aug. 1, just days after turning 22.
``My brother was Lance Corporal Daniel Nathan Deyarmin, but we called him Nate,'' Erica Deyarmin said of her little brother, who was ``a foot taller than me.''
Fighting to keep her composure, she said her brother loved his family, loved his friends and ``loved to work on cars.''
As mourners waited for the service to begin, dozens of photographs capturing snippets of Deyarmin's too-short life -- bouncing in his walker, clowning with friends at Tallmadge High School, working under a car hood with his father, posing with his mother in his Marine dress blues -- flashed on two flat-screen monitors.
``He was my protector, my partner in crime.... He was mom's buddy and my dad's apprentice,'' Erica continued.
``He was proud to be a Marine. He joined because he wanted to be with the best of the best and because he never had a brother. Nate believed in freedom, brotherhood and love.''
Erica said her brother wasn't one to make requests. ``But if he had one last request, it would be this: After leaving here, hug your family. Make someone laugh. And help a friend, neighbor or a perfect stranger,'' she said as she looked over to her brother's flag-draped coffin.
Daniel "Nate" Deyarmin came to us, along with Montgomery, from Weapons Company. He brought with him his goofy smile and upbeat spirit. Deyarmin's goofy exterior, which earned him the usual dose of ribbings, contained the soul of a gentle, thoughtful man. He was always willing to undertake any task set before him, and did so without complaint or hesitation. He could be found during his off time reading some kind of "motorhead" magazine, and he was always talking specs about vehicles. "Nate" Deyarmin's smile will be missed. (Eulogy written by Sgt Casagrande, a scout sniper)
Marine Lance Cpl Daniel N. Deyarmin Jr. was killed in action on 08/01/05.
Rest in peace, Nate, you are a Hero.
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