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Sunday, March 16, 2003

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

James Dillon Jr., a Marine private from Grove City in Mercer County, apparently shot and killed himself Thursday in Kuwait. He was 19.

During his last two years at Grove City Area High School, Mr. Dillon made it plain to everyone that his career goal was to serve in the military.

"I never heard him talk about doing anything else. He was going to go into the Marines," said Patty Wilson, who was his high school guidance counselor.

Mr. Dillon graduated in spring 2002 and was inducted soon after.

He was with the 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, which is following that unit as the United States prepares for a war with Iraq, reported that Mr. Dillon took his own life outside his tent.

Grief-stricken Marines held a memorial service for Mr. Dillon at the new U.S. military base closest to the Iraqi border.

Mr. Dillon attended schools in Mercer before transferring to Grove City Area High for his junior and senior years.

Wilson said he was an above-average student. He was active in Grove City's Big Brother and Big Sister program, in which high school students befriend and mentor younger children.

Mr. Dillon also was known for his work in the high school's audio-visual program. He read daily announcements broadcast into each classroom via television hookups. On Fridays, he prepared and read a top-10 list, a light-hearted spoof patterned after David Letterman's.

Mr. Wilson is survived by his father, James Dillon Sr. of Morningside, and his mother, Linda Snyder of Grove City.

Funeral arrangements have not been announced.