Dustin J. Libby killed in combat

A Marine from Aroostook County who died in Iraq this week was killed in a firefight, his brother said on Friday night.

Cpl. Dustin J. Libby, 22, of Castle Hill died on Wednesday in Anbar province. Libby had gone to the roof of a building and was manning a machine gun when he was shot, said his brother, Chris Libby of Mapleton.

A member of Cpl. Libby's squad told Chris Libby that his brother went down still holding the trigger.

Dustin Libby was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, and was based at Camp Pendleton in California.

He arrived in the Ramadi area for his second tour in Iraq a little more than two weeks ago. His brother said the mission was seeking out insurgents.

"He was right in the heavy stuff from Day 1," Chris Libby said.

Four Marines from Topsham, accompanied by a state trooper, delivered the news of Libby's death to the family early Wednesday morning, his brother said.

His family had not foreseen that Dustin Libby would enter the service. His brother described him as a hellion who had been impressed by how a buddy had been transformed by his experience in the Marines.

There had been talk of invading Iraq for months before Dustin Libby signed up for the Marines. The day he signed the papers, his brother picked him up and they went home to turn on the TV and see President Bush announcing the invasion.

"I looked at him," Chris Libby said. "And he said, 'Well, I knew we were going there."'
Chris Libby said his brother made it through some tough scrapes on his first tour and was "scared half out of his mind," but he had no regrets.

He recalled how his younger brother looked the day he shipped off for boot camp -- a kid with scruffy, long hair, still a bit tipsy from the previous night's festivities. When the brothers saw each other again at boot camp graduation, Chris Libby did a double take.

"I'm looking at this man in front of me. I'm two inches taller than him and he's looking at me, eye to eye, in full uniform. It amazed me," Chris Libby said. "They talk about it on the advertisements on TV: We'll take your children and we'll turn them into men. He came back a man. He came back more than a man, he came back a Marine."

The family is still making arrangements for the funeral. Chris Libby said plans will be announced.

Dustin Libby's survivors include his mother, Geni Libby of Castle Hill, his father, Judson Libby of Caribou, and his brother. Dustin Libby was engaged to Jeannine Gonzales, whom he met in California. They planned to marry when Dustin Libby returned from this tour in Iraq, Chris Libby said.

From the Press Herald