James Eric Brown killed by gunfire

OWENSVILLE-Family and friends of the U.S. Marine killed by gunfire in Iraq on Thursday gathered over the weekend to console each other, as arrangements for Lance Cpl. James Eric Brown's funeral were being made.

Brown, 20, of Owensville, was shot in the neck by small arms fire and killed instantly while patrolling in the Al Anbar province in western Iraq, said Marine Staff Sgt. Tim Kosky.

Brown had been deployed from Camp Lejeune, the Marine base in Jacksonville, N.C., with the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines.

Kosky and two other Marines have been in constant contact with the family after Brown's mother, Joanne Van Antwerp, was informed Thursday afternoon of her son's death.

A 2005 Gibson Southern High School graduate, Brown was engaged to his high school sweetheart, Jamie Coleman, and the couple was planning their wedding to coincide with his expected return from Iraq in February 2007.

Brown and Coleman - who Van Antwerp described as best friends - had known each other since the third grade and had been dating for the past two and a half years.

Coleman said she spoke with her fianceé just last Tuesday, and Brown told Coleman then that he wanted to come home. But Coleman said Brown was in a good mood when they spoke because he was able to talk with her.

“He seemed really happy that day. He sounded like he was having a great day because he was glad he got to talk with me,” she said.

Brown was reluctant to talk about his activities in Iraq, Coleman said, because he did not want his loved ones to worry about him. But Brown had told friends that he had been out on patrol for several weeks.

In a letter from the family, his mother said Brown joined the Marines to “be the best.”

“(I) would like everyone to know he was my heart and soul, and that he was (my) hero ever since he was born,” Van Antwerp wrote in her letter.

Brown's mother said her son was a wonderful person who excelled at whatever he did and was a leader when he played sports at GSHS. As a senior,

Brown was voted the 2004 Most Valuable Player for the Titans football team, made the All Gibson County Football Team, the All PAC Conference team and earned state honorable mention as a linebacker and the “Iron Man Award.” He was also a two-time Golden Gloves champion.

After his high school graduation, Brown joined the U.S. Marine Corps, setting off to boot camp in June 2005 and graduating as a Private First Class on Sept. 16, 2005. He joined his unit in December 2005 and they were deployed to Iraq on July 11, 2006.

“James was the most hardworking, motivated, responsible person you can find,” Van Antwerp wrote.

“He set his goals in high school to become a Marine and worked hard to achieve them, and become the best Marine he could be.”

Besides his mother, Brown is survived by two a sister, 17-year-old Carma Dart, and a brother, Dillen Friend, 14.

“They are just in shock. We're all in shock,” Van Antwerp said.

Kosky said Brown's father, James Ling of Evansville, also survives and has been notified of his son's death.

Brown's former high school football coach, John Obermeier, said he believed the community and the country has lost “a tremendous young man.”

“He was a strong genuine person,” he said. “This is just an absolute tragedy.”

Obermeier said he remembered Brown being very excited about joining the Marines and experiencing the adventures of being a Marine.

Teachers at GSHS were reminiscing about seeing Brown come into school as a freshman and watching him grow into a fine young man, Obermeier said.

Libbi Douglas, Jamie Coleman's grandmother, said Brown had suffered burns about a month or two after he was deployed to Iraq. She said Brown recovered from his burns and returned to his normal duties.

“I wish they would have sent him home when he got burned, but they kept him,” Libbi Douglas said.

Van Antwerp said she and her family know Brown will live on through them, but the loss of her son will remain create a great void for all who knew him.

“James is gone, but he will never be forgotten,” she said. “He will always be in our hearts. Our lives will not be the same without him.”

From the Princeton Daily Clarion