Justin Peterson dies in vehicle accident

DETROIT - A 32-year-old Baptist minister's son who wanted to follow his grandfather's example and join the Marines has died in a noncombat vehicle crash while serving in Iraq.

Career Marine Capt. Justin D. Peterson, a father of three, died Sunday from injuries he received in an accident in Anbar province, the Defense Department said. It said the incident was under investigation.

He was from the unincorporated community of Davisburg in Springfield Township, about 35 miles northwest of Detroit.

Peterson was a supply officer assigned to 1st Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, in Twentynine Palms, Calif. He had been in Iraq for six months, his family said.

Peterson's grandfather, Don Woodworth, had been a warrant officer in the Marines, wife Patricia Peterson said Thursday.

"From the time he was old enough to talk about a career, Justin wanted to follow in his grandfather's footsteps and be a Marine," his family said in a statement released by Harrison Funeral Home in Springfield Township. "Justin was proud to be an officer in the U.S. Marines."

The son of a Baptist minister, Peterson enlisted in the Marine Corps out of Southfield Christian High School in 1992, his wife said. He later earned a business degree at Taylor University, an evangelical Christian school in Upland, Ind., and received an offer's commission.

"For one who has spent 35 years speaking to audiences of all sizes, suddenly my vocabulary seems woefully inadequate to express either the heartache or the pride that overwhelms our extended family," his father, the Rev. Dale Peterson, said in an online memorial posting.

In remarks addressed to his son, the father added, "We will never forget the pride of the parade deck ... when you graduated from boot camp."

"To know that you lived - in life and in death - the values and principles that your mother and I endeavored to instill in you only augments the value of your life - to us as your parents, to the country that you served, and to the those who will experience the freedoms that you have helped to secure," he wrote.

Peterson had three children - 6-year-old Jared, 2-year-old Jayden and 6-month-old Caitlin, who was born three days before his deployment to Iraq, his wife said.

His 21-year-old brother Joshua also is a Marine and returned from Iraq for the funeral, Patricia Peterson said.

Other survivors include his mother Ginna, brother Jordan, sisters Charity and Joy, and grandparents Don and Libby Woodworth.

Visitation was planned for Sunday at Harrison Funeral Home and a funeral Monday at Marimont Community Church in Pontiac. Burial was planned at Great Lakes National Cemetery near Holly.

From the San Jose Mercury News