Justin D. Reppuhn
Lance Corporal, United States Marine Corps
September 27, 1984 – November 10, 2004
Age – 20
Hemlock, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
3rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1 Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, CA
Killed while engaged in combat operations in Al Anbar Province, Iraq
He just wanted to fight for freedom,” Dan Reppuhn said of his son the day after the president’s address. “He once told my wife, ‘I don’t belong to anyone; I belong to everyone.’ That was his nature.
LCPL Reppuhn was a 2003 graduate of Hemlock High School and while in school he participated in football, baseball and wrestling. He was employed by Pennzoil (‘The Zoil’) on Bay Rd.
Reppuhn, known as J.D., played football in high school and joined the Marine Corps shortly after graduating. He was a popular student well known among the student body and was just a very likable young man. He studied history at Monroe Community College.
He enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corp. June 9, 2003. He was based at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
In phone calls home, Justin Reppuhn talked about the Iraqi people he had met, his battles and his unwavering support for the war. He was upbeat, so his family was upbeat. He was very proud to serve and they were proud of him. He wanted to do what he was doing. He wanted to fight for freedom. He wanted to fight for his country.
One of his fellow soldiers fondly remembered him. “JD was my driver in Iraq in 04 and we spent a lot of time together. He was my inspiration, I was on one of the two assault teams that JD had in the back of his truck. The assault teams had many tasks throughout the day, and JD would motivate us, feed us, and just make sure we were ok. When I got to Iraq it took months before I started receiving care packages and he had no problem sharing with his brothers. I’ve never met a human with his compassion and was so ready to give himself for others. He will always live in my heart. When people ask about the kind of Marine I’ve met in the Corps he is my example.”