Troy D. Nealey
Lance Corporal, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves
July 15, 1982 – November 1, 2006
Age – 24
Eaton Rapids, MI
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Marine Forces Reserve’s 1st Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Lansing, MI
Died of wounds suffered while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar, Iraq
The second Gulf War lasted a little more than eight and a half years. In that time more than 4,400 service members lost their lives in combat.
But during a particularly brutal stretch between October of 2006 and February of 2007, 22 Marines from Selfridge Air National Guard Base were killed in action.
These Marines went there with the purest of intentions to serve in the cause of freedom and that’s what they did. And I just think it’s something that we have to do. I don’t want them to be forgotten.
Before he rejoined his unit, Troy D. Nealey told his mother that if the worst happened, he wanted a memorial to benefit 4-H kids. “He loved agriculture,” said Annette. “He was exposed to farm life, and he loved the cattle and crops. If he’d been born on a farm, I think that would have made him the happiest.” He was a 2001 high school graduate and was assigned to Lansing. He played sweeper on the soccer squad and anchored relay teams in high school. In his senior year, he received the soccer coaches’ award. His former coach said kids like him made coaching very enjoyable because he was always positive. I never heard him once be negative about anything. He was a model player. He helped his dad, Norman, a builder, on construction projects and helped his woodworking teacher run electrical wiring in a pole barn. He was 5 feet 6, but he had a big heart and a big smile.
Nealey’s pickup truck showed his colors. His truck had two stickers – One was ‘Cowboy Up,’ and the other was the Marines.