ATCO, NJ, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, B CO, 2D BN, 9TH MAR, (MSF-ASHRAF, II MEF FWD), 2D MAR DIV ASHRAF, IRAQ 09/10/2007
Lance Corporal Jon Hicks was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment, 2d Marine Division, 2sn Marine Expeditionary Force, at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina. He was twenty years old when he and another soldier were killed on September 10, 2007 while conducting combat operations in the western Anbar Prvince , Iraqi as his unit supported Operation Iraqi Freedom. He would have been twenty-one a month later. Anbar Province , a predominantly Sunni Muslim region west of Baghdad was one of Iraq’s most violently active areas. He was the second soldier from his hometown street to die in Iraq.
Thomas Hicks was from Atco, New Jersey and a 2005 graduate of Hammonton High School. Atco is on the edge of the Pine Barrens about fifteen miles southeast of Camden, New Jersey. Friends and family note this was Jon’s first tour in Iraq. Jon was known to others as a nice kid. He was well-behaved gentleman. Jon had planned to go to college, but changed his mind and went to USMC boot camp instead. He had plans to become a police officer when his service ended. Jon followed the Philadelphia Eagles and very much enjoyed football. He also enjoyed paint ball and playing video games.