Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly

Remember Our Heroes

Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly, 29, of Tallahassee, Fla.

2nd Lt Kelly was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif.; died Nov. 9, 2010 in Helmand province, Afghanistan, while conducting combat operations.

2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly was conducting dismounted combat operations at the time of his death, according to the 1st Marine Division Public Affairs Office. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based in Camp Pendleton, Calif.

John Kelly commanded Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq in 2008, according to media reports. The younger Kelly was a 2003 graduate of Florida State University, where he earned a degree in history.

U.S. Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly had a quick wit, a fondness for history and ice hockey and a deep love of country, his friends and family members said.

Kelly, 29, a 2003 Florida State University graduate, was killed Tuesday by the blast of an improvised explosive device while taking part in dismounted combat operations against enemy forces in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

He was an infantry officer assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force based at Camp Pendleton, Calif. The decorated officer was a son of Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly, commander of the Marine Forces Reserve and Marine Forces North. His brother, John Kelly, also is a Marine.

“Growing up in a military family, he had a sense of duty,” said Matthew Rowland, who met Kelly in 2000 when they were freshmen at FSU. “I think he always knew he was going into the military. When we were in school, he studied a lot of military history — he was a big reader and a history buff.”

Rowland got to know Kelly from their days living in Cash Hall on campus. At one point, Kelly caught a glimpse of Rowland’s first cousin, Heather Landry, and asked him to introduce them.

“He kept saying set us up — let’s go out on a double date,” Rowland recalled. “Eventually, we went out on a double date. And they did hit it off. They were pretty much inseparable.”

Kelly and Landry married June 30, 2007. They were making their home in Oceanside, Calif., friends said

He had a distinguished military career — Kelly’s service awards include the Purple Heart, the Combat Action Ribbon, the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, the Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Humanitarian Service Medal, the Iraq Campaign Medal, the Afghanistan Combat Medal and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Marine 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly was killed in action on 11/09/10.