David P. Lindsey remembered

Louis Hughes exploded with anguish when he heard his best friend, Marine Lance Cpl. David Lindsey, had been fatally shot in the head in Iraq.

"I screamed and screamed," Hughes said. "I'm a preacher, I'm a minister, but I'll be honest, I was angry, I was ready to kill the person that shot him. I was over-grieved. We were brothers."

The news of the 20-year-old Marine's death has ravaged his family and friends with grief; but laughter mingled with their tears as they recounted the many memories they had shared.

Hughes said he and Lindsey have been inseparable since seventh grade, when their worlds - and their bikes - first collided.

"We live right down the road from each other, but we met in the classroom. I was annoying to him and he was a frustrating person to be around to me because he cracked jokes," Hughes said. "We rode our bikes around the neighborhood and we started riding around the pole to see who could go the fastest, and then David changed sides to be funny and we went flying off our bikes head first into each other."

The impact broke their bikes and as they lay on the ground stewing, the oddity of the situation led to uncontrollable giggling.

"From there on out we were nothing but cracks, jokes and laughing," Hughes said. "He must have spent the night at my house 1,000 times."

All things to all people

Mike and Nora Bishop took Lindsey into their home at age 6, when his biological family was unable to care for him, and the love he received from them he poured into others.

"David was a very loving person," his sister, Shawna Cowart, said. "He loved his family and friends and animals."

The young Marine had the ability to make friends with anyone - but he always sought out the people who needed friends.

"He wasn't a kid trying to be popular," said his sister, Rachel Baxter. "He was a bit of an underdog, and he reached out to kids who may not have been as cool. He wasn't caught up in a popularity contest."

Hughes said Lindsey had the ability to reach out to anyone and make them feel important.

"He could talk to anybody. He could be himself around everybody. Around what we would classify as preppy people, and around gothics - he could just mold himself around every form of person," Hughes said.

"It was amazing the way he just gave himself for whatever he felt he was called to do. If he was called to talk to a person that was maybe poor and smelly or bad looking - it didn't matter, he was dedicated to people," Hughes added. "He was a tool of God."

His sisters described Lindsey as a goofball, but he also had depth and sensitivity towards the needs of others.

When Hughes' mother died, Lindsey was the first one to reach out to him.

"He grabbed me, hugged me and told me it was all going to be all right," Hughes said. "He was the first person to make you laugh when you were in the worst mood, but he was also someone you could talk to about serious things. I think he was an instrument of God in everyone's life."

Honor

Whatever Lindsey did, whether being a friend or running track and cross country at Spartanburg High School, he threw himself wholly into it.

"When he did something, he did it in all respect," Hughes said. "He was a very honorable person. If anything could display who he was, it was honor."

Glover Smiley, Lindsey's track coach and guidance counselor, said Lindsey shone in the athletic program because he always gave his best.

"He worked hard and always wanted to get better and better," Smiley said. "He was just a great young man who never wanted to disappoint you or let anyone down."

Lindsey's criminal justice teacher, G. Brian Mullinax, called Lindsey a hero in the truest sense of the word.

"He came by Daniel Morgan (Vocational Center) after completing basic training for the Marines to say he was on his way to Iraq," Mullinax said via e-mail. "He was so proud to serve his country. You could see the pride as he walked. He was a tall man anyway, but he stood for so much more."

Lindsey joined the Marines in 2005, fulfilling a lifelong dream to "be like his dad," Mike Bishop, who served in the Army during the Vietnam War.

Lindsey's oldest sister, Natalie Hickman, 30, remembered his excitement as a child when the hairstylist mistakenly gave him a military hair cut while he was under the supervision of his sisters.

"By the time we saw what she was doing he already had a big streak missing," Hickman said. "We were saying 'Momma's going to kill us,' and he was bouncing up and down saying 'I got a buzz cut, I got a buzz cut!' "

Lindsey's letters home showed his family an ever deepening growth and maturity as he penned phrases about sacrifice, love and dedication.

On Thanksgiving, he wrote home from boot camp: "I am not really down here training to be a Marine because this is what I want I am down here for y'all and for my friends. I'm willing to miss some holidays so other Americans can enjoy them. I will do my best defending America even if it means with my life."

"He would have made a good writer," Baxter said. "He believed his destiny was to serve and protect like Dad. He was inspired."

Homesick but hopeful

Lindsey was deployed with the 3rd Battalion 6th Marines in early January.

Hughes said Lindsey called him twice last week, for 30 minutes each time, telling him that he hated the heat, hated the circumstances, missed his family and friends terribly, but understood why he was there, and he was happy to be there.

"He said, 'It's worth it, man,' " Hughes said. "Still, he told me he couldn't wait to get home, be with his family, be with me and go play paintball."

His family said Lindsey was already contemplating the different things he could do when he finished his four-year contract with the Marines.

Baxter said he was a talented horticulturist and had won numerous awards for landscaping projects. He worked for the Spartanburg Country Club and was thinking about going back to school for landscaping and turf management.

"He always had another idea whenever I talked to him," Baxter said. "Last time, he was talking about opening a restaurant."

Hughes said the thought of living without his best friend is more than he can bear.

"Even though I'm not a supporter of the war and I don't understand the reason why he was taken away from us, I do know he will never be forgotten," Hughes said. "The debt he has paid - it's amazing what he has done for our country."

Mike Baxter said the Marines have not released any additional information about the circumstances surrounding his son's death. He said Lindsey's body should return within 72 hours.

The funeral will be held at St. Christopher's Episcopal Church, where Lindsey was a member.

Baxter said the family has requested two of his son's best friends from the Marine Corps, George Moody and Dustin McFarland, escort the body if possible. They also plan to allow the Patriot Guard Riders to participate in the funeral services.

The family is requesting that donations be made to "Soldiers' Angels" in lieu of flowers. The nonprofit organization sends packages and letters to soldiers who might not otherwise receive support and can be found online at soldiersangels.org. Monetary donations can be mailed to the organization at 1792 E. Washington Blvd., Pasadena, CA, 91104.

From the Herald Journal

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David P. Lindsey dies 'from a non-hostile incident'