FREDERICKSBURG, VA, US
U.S. Marine Corps
SGT, 1ST BN, 2D MAR, (RCT-2, I MEF FWD), 2D MAR DIV, CAMP LEJEUNE, NC
06/26/2010, HELMAND PROVINCE, AFGHANISTAN
A Fredericksburg Marine who played football and coached wrestling at Stafford High School has been killed in combat in Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department and family friends.
Marine Sergeant Donald J. Lamar II, 23, a scout/sniper team leader, was killed May 12 in Helmand province, a Taliban stronghold and major opium-producing area, officials said. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
Lamar was a 2004 graduate of Stafford High, where he was on the wrestling team and played running back on the football team, friends said. He joined the Marine Corps in January 2006 and had just been promoted to sergeant March 2.
He had been in Afghanistan only since March, the Marines said, but had served two tours in Iraq — from March to September 2007 and from July 2008 to February 2009. While stateside, he often made the 300-mile drive from Camp Lejeune to coach wrestling at Stafford High, family friend Chris Grey said.
“He was a bright young man, a fun-loving young man and a good athlete,” said David Ripley, a principal intern at the high school.
“He was an exceptional leader on the football team, very well-rounded and liked by so many people because he just had a charismatic personality,” Ripley added.
Lamar is survived by his wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Madison; his parents, Don and Coleen Lamar; and two younger brothers. Friends said his family was still too upset to speak publicly about him.
A scholarship fund, “Madison in Memory of Sergeant Donald Lamar,” has been set up for his daughter at Virginia’s Union First Market Bank. Donations are being accepted at any branch.