Howard March killed during combat operations

Howard March, all 20 years of him, always reached for the top rung.

As an eighth-grader at Westminster Community School in Buffalo, after designing Web pages and teaching younger kids about computers, he wanted the best high school for computer technology.

So one day he came home and told his mother he was going to Hutchinson-Central Technical High School.

Four years later, as a Hutch-Tech senior, March decided he would go into the Marines, partly because he was captivated by their discipline and the way they carried themselves. But that wasn't the only reason.

"He liked the slogan, "The Few, The Proud, The Marines,' " his mother, Lisa Leeper, said. "He wanted to be part of an elite group. He wanted the best."

On Tuesday, two days after Marine Lance Cpl. Howard S. March Jr. was killed during combat operations in Iraq, his mother wouldn't speculate about the next rung he might have climbed.

"I don't want to say, if he had lived, I would have danced at his wedding," she said in her Voorhees Avenue home. "It's too painful to think about that. I understand divinely that that was the plan for his life. I accept God's will, and I will miss him immensely.

"It is obviously heart-wrenching. It is obviously heartbreaking. And I will never be the same, especially losing him at such a young age. But nothing will take away from the nobility and the honor of serving your country. It's the ultimate sacrifice."

A thoughtful, soft-spoken woman, Leeper sat at her dining-room table Tuesday with her husband, William Leeper, patiently answering questions from several reporters. But she wanted to talk only about her son, not about the politics of the Iraq War or the way he was killed.

Talk with anyone who knew Howard March, and the first topic always was his smile, his ability to laugh when others might not.

Rose Schneider, an assistant principal at Hutch-Tech, previously taught March seventh- and eighth-grade math at Westminster Community School.

"I got to see him as a 12-year-old and then walking across the stage as a high school graduate," she said. "I was just so proud to help mold him."

Schneider was struck most by the ever-present smile.

"He was always smiling, always happy," she said. "He'd walk in from the bus every day and say, "Hey, Ms. Schneider.' It was always a pleasure to see him. He had a real positive personality."

March joined the Marines in July 2004, after graduating from high school. He came home last Thanksgiving, eight months before being deployed to Iraq. But he wouldn't let that prospect cloud his stay here.

"He popped in with this big smile and said, "Hey, Mom, what's up?' We couldn't keep too somber without him lightening the mood. He said, "I'm at home. Now relax. Let's have some fun.' "

While he never was a discipline problem, at home or in school, March was still a boy. And when he had to, he'd flash his smile to extricate himself from trouble.

"He charmed me out of grounding him a couple times when he [broke] curfew," his mother said. "He would flash those teeth, give me that smile and say "I'm so sorry,' like he really meant it."

As a member of the Marines' 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, G Company, March was featured in a Marine Corps News story last month, conducting random vehicle inspections to catch insurgents trying to transport weapons in Al Anbar province.

"The searches are important, because they maintain us as a presence," March was quoted as saying. "It lets the insurgents know they can't do anything in our AO [area of operation]."

The story went on to state that the Marines knew they were making a difference with these random searches, keeping the insurgents on the run.

His mother feels the same way. Although her son no longer is here, she believes in the glory of his accomplishments.

"My prayer is that other young people will see this and decide they don't have to be on the streets, wandering aimlessly," she said. "They can choose to live an honorable life that is selfless, rather than serving themselves."

From the Jackson Sun