Nicholas O. Cherava
Corporal, United States Marine Corps
January 5, 1984 – October 6, 2005
Age – 21
Ontonagon, MI
2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, NC
Killed by an improvised explosive device while conducting combat operations against enemy forces near Karmah, Iraq
CPL Nicholas O. Cherava joined the Marines in 2003 after graduating from high school and was assigned to Camp Lejeune.
After his mother bought him an American flag for Christmas when he was 8, he discovered that his mom didn’t get the largest size. So she exchanged it for him. “I’ve never forgotten that,” recalled Sharon Cherava. “Here he was 8 years old, and he wanted a bigger flag. He was always patriotic.”
While growing up on a cattle farm in the Upper Peninsula, he would disappear into the woods, usually dressed in camouflage. “I used to worry sick about him,” Sharon Cherava said. “He’d be gone for hours, but he always found his way back.” Known as “Chevy” at school, his personality was so persuasive he convinced six other friends to join the Marines. He also was proud of his Albanian heritage and wore an Albanian flag tattooed on his chest. “He was good for morale,” said his sister, Cheryl Cherava. “That’s what his platoon leader told us when he called. Everyone looked to him.”
One of his Marine brothers wrote:
“Chevy,
To the only man and Marine I ever honestly looked up too and tried to be like. 6 years have passed and not a day goes by where I wish there was some way I could change the outcome. I remember you always standing up for me and trying to teach me everything you knew. Some of my best memories are of you just being Chevy and flipping out and doing your own thing. I remember my first day in the fleet, you and Kenny were drunk as hell and I thought Kenny was funny and you were the craziest man I have ever met. It’s true -I appreciate everything that you have ever done for me. Sometimes I feel very guilty for surviving in that humvee and that day. I cannot thank your family enough for welcoming me into their lives and treating like one of their own. One day we will meet up again, until then I will pay my respects and honor you in every way I know how. Semper fi my brother.”
Nate Herbert