Regional Command Southwest
Cpl. Chad Williams, C Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), pays his respects to Cpl. Lucas T. Pyeatt during a memorial service at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 15. Pyeatt, 24, of Westchester, Ohio, was a team leader and linguist with C Company. He was killed in action Feb. 5 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Ross
02.15.2011 Story by Sgt. Jeremy Ross CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan– Marines and sailors with 2nd Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), paused to honor Cpl. Lucas T. Pyeatt, a team leader and linguist with C Company, 2nd Radio Bn., during a memorial service at the LSA 7 chapel here, Feb. 15.
Lance Cpl. Nicholas Shaw, C Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), places a helmet on top of the traditional fallen service member's memorial at a memorial service in honor of Cpl. Lucas T. Pyeatt at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 15. Pyeatt, 24, of Westchester, Ohio, was a team leader and linguist with C Company. He was killed in action Feb. 5 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Ross
Lt. Col. Matthew Rau, 2nd Radio Bn. commanding officer, recalled Pyeatt’s diverse life before the Corps. He spoke of Pyeatt’s interest in Civil War history and many tours of historic battlefields, and how he helped restore an historic site in Virginia. He told of how Pyeatt learned sign language in high school so he could communicate with and interpret for a friend and classmate. He revealed that Pyeatt had been an Eagle Scout and served for two years as a missionary in Russia, and that he had joined the Marines after a close friend in the army was killed in Iraq.
Marines from C Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), pay their respects to Cpl. Lucas T. Pyeatt at a memorial service at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 15. Pyeatt, 24, of Westchester, Ohio, was a team leader and linguist with C Company. He was killed in action Feb. 5 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Ross
C Company commander Capt. Sasha Kuhlow praised Pyeatt’s leadership and affection for his fellow Marines. His performance and initiative during the unit’s pre-deployment training made him stand out from his peers and made him an obvious choice to be a team leader, she said.
After arriving in his team’s area of operation, Pyeatt insisted that, as a team leader, he be the first to go on patrol in the area so he could tell his Marines what to expect, said Kuhlow.
“Corporal Pyeatt motivated his team in such as way that the first words out of his teammates mouths after hearing [that he had been killed] were not ‘oh my God,’ they were not ‘what are we going to do about a team leader?’” said Kuhlow. “Instead they asked, ‘how soon can I get up there?’” After prayers, Bible readings, hymns and remarks from Pyeatt’s leadership and friends, 1st Sgt. David Leikwold, C Company first sergeant, called roll of the assembled company. When he came to Pyeatt’s name, he called it three times. Silence lingered until taps played. Friends and fellow Marines and sailors then solemnly filed up to the traditional memorial of helmet, rifle, boots and dog tags to pay their final respects.
Marines and sailors stand at attention while taps plays in honor of Cpl. Lucas T. Pyeatt during a memorial service at Camp Leatherneck, Afghanistan, Feb. 15. Pyeatt, 24, of Westchester, Ohio, was a team leader and linguist with C Company, 2nd Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). He was killed in action Feb. 5 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province. Photo by Sgt. Jeremy Ross
“If you remember nothing else about Corporal Pyeatt, understand that this was a Marine who stepped up when he was called,” said Kuhlow.
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