Soldier Honored: John W. Marshall

Army Sergeant First Class John W. Marshall, 50, of Los Angeles, was assigned to 3^rd Battalion, 15^th Infantry Regiment, 3^rd Infantry Division, based in Ft. Stewart, Georgia. On April 8, 2003, he was killed when he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade during an ambush in Baghdad. He was serving during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Sergeant First Class Marshall was one of nine children, growing up in South Central Los Angeles, he joined the Army when he was 18 years old and stayed until the day of his death. In high school, he played the flute and loved motorcycles. He was “devoted to the Army and his troops meant everything to him.” Both of his parents were World War II veterans and his brother served in the Vietnam War. His family takes comfort in the fact that “he was doing what he wanted to do.” Sergeant First Class Marshall left behind a wife and three children.