Marine Staff Sgt. Joel Preston Dameron

Remember Our Heroes

Marine Staff Sgt. Joel P. Dameron, 27, of Ellabell, Georgia.

SSG Dameron died from an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations in the vicinity of Al Amiriyah, Iraq. He was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Joel Preston Dameron was a stoic "Marine's Marine" on duty and a prankster around friends and family, his widow, Logyn Butler Dameron, said Wednesday from the family home in South Georgia.

Staff Sgt. Dameron, 27, of Ellabell, Ga., was killed Sunday by an improvised bomb that exploded while he was on patrol near Al Amiriyah, Iraq, the Department of Defense said.

He was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Force Service Support Group, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Dameron is the 61st Georgian killed in military operations during the Iraq war, according to statistics on the Web site icasualty.org.

Joel and Logyn Dameron were sweethearts at Bryan County High School and married two years ago, said Logyn.

Joel Dameron's parents, who are separated, live in Claxton and Woodstock. He has two brothers, in Savannah and North Carolina respectively, and two half-brothers in Woodstock.

Logyn Dameron, who has a four-year-old son, Riley, and is now seven months pregnant, recalled Wednesday how his warm attitude around family belied the battle-hardened Marine underneath.

"Around people he knows he's got a really outrageous, fun-loving attitude. He's always doing crazy stuff, getting his nephews into trouble — and my son," she said from her home in Pembroke, near Fort Stewart.

"As a Marine, he was a very brave person, not very emotional but stoic and reserved.

"When he got over there [to Iraq], he realized how bad it was. It was his duty to be a Marine and had no patience for people who weren't doing their job."

Logyn Dameron said her husband was also a huge Florida Gators football fan, who revelled in the team's most recent victory against the Georgia Bulldogs, the team she roots for.

"The last time I talked to him was Saturday night after the Georgia-Florida game," she said. "He had to call and rub that in my face."

Dameron left Sept. 3 for his second tour in Iraq, his wife said. His first tour lasted from Aug. 2004 to March 2005.

She said her husband told her the violence appeared to have increased during his second term.

"He said it was either really quiet and boring or nonstop — that it was never in between," she said. "Especially during Ramadan . . . he said it was a lot worse."

Marine Staff Sgt. Joel P. Dameron was killed in action on 10/30/05.