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'New England's Own' Marines gather to remember fallen brothers

Marines from 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5 paused operations Aug. 26 to honor two Marines who were killed in action earlier this month.

Two Marines with B Company, 1st Battalion, 25th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 5, pay their final respects to two fallen Marines. Capt. John J. McKenna IV and Lance Cpl. Michael D. Glover were both killed in action Aug. 16, while conducting combat operations in Fallujah, Iraq. McKenna, 30, served as 28 year-old Glover's platoon commander at B Company. A memorial service was held for the Marines on Aug. 26

Capt. John J. McKenna IV and Lance Cpl. Michael D. Glover were honored in a memorial service. Both Marines were killed while conducting combat operations Aug. 16. Both Marines were assigned to B Company.

"John McKenna represented all that is great about America and all that is great about our Corps, as did Lance Cpl. Glover," said Lt. Col. Christopher A. Landro, the battalion's commander, from Kennesaw, Ga. "Michael and John faced this evil here in Fallujah, so that our nation does not have to face it on the streets of New York, or Boston, or Washington or any city in America."

McKenna, a platoon commander and also a N.Y. state trooper, volunteered his service to deploy with the battalion when his own unit asked for volunteers. He had already completed and earlier deployment to Iraq and another to Afghanistan as an air defense control officer. He volunteered to return this time after retraining to be an infantry officer.

"He saw Lance Cpl. Glover raise his hand. He saw us," said Sgt. Derek P. Mcgee, a 29-year-old infantryman from Dutchess, N.Y. "Young men, some a little older, some still boys, volunteering to head off into the unforgiving embraces of war, and he knew we needed a leader to weld us together ... to train us hard, unleash us on the enemies of America, and then bring as many of us home as possible."

Glover, 28, was studying law and dropped his own plans at home to serve with the battalion when Marines got the news of their activation.

"Mike couldn't stand the thought of any of his Marines heading off to Iraq without him with them," said Lance Cpl. Brian D. Greene, a fellow platoon member from Albany, N.Y. "Staying back in the rear just wasn't an option."

Both were remembered by their fellow Marines and friends for a strong sense of duty, leadership skills and compassionate friendliness.

"At home Americans believe in justice because of rough men like John and because of people like him the nation of Iraq has hope," said Capt. Matt H. Bazarian, B Company's executive officer, from Hampden, Mass.

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