NAPLES, FL, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, G CO, 2D BN, 8TH MAR, (RCT-3, 2D MEB FWD), 2D MAR DIV, CAMP LEJEUNE, NC BASTION, AFGHANISTAN 08/07/2009
Looking for a change of pace, Dennis James Burrow moved from Maryland to Naples a few years back.
After working for a while as a waiter and a bartender, Burrow, 23, joined the U.S. Marines, said his best friend, Jack Hagan, 23.
The Department of Defense announced Monday that Burrow, a Lance Corporal, had been killed Friday while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. His address was listed as Naples, though Hagan said Maryland was still home.
“It’s like losing a brother,” said Hagan, who has known Burrow since elementary school.
“He was the closest thing you could have to a brother without actually being family.”
Burrow was an assault man assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 3, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
In a written statement, Marine Captain Timothy Patrick said that Burrow joined the Marine Corps in June 2006 and was promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal on September 1, 2007.
Burrow deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from November 2007 to May 2008, and to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in May 2009. His awards include the Iraqi Campaign Medal and Global War on Terrorism Service Medals.
Burrow was home in Maryland for about a week before shipping off to Afghanistan, Hagan said. They went out to a bar to have fun. The last thing Hagan said he remembered telling Burrow was to be careful, to keep his head down, and to call when he could.
“When you hear about this stuff, you never think it’s going to happen to you, especially for your best friend,” Hagan said.
Hagan described Burrow as a “goofball,” who was into computers and good at math.
“He couldn’t have been more of an honest person, and he would drop anything he was doing to help you, for anything that you needed,” Hagan said. “He was there all the time.”
Burrow’s last known address in Naples is a now-abandoned home on Highlands Drive. A neighbor said Burrow had not lived there in years.
Regardless of Burrow’s connection to the area, though, Marsit said, Burrow will always have a home in the hearts and minds of his fellow Marines.
“One Marine is never going to forget another Marine,” Marsit said. “He’s one of us.”