BRIDGEWATER, MA, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, 3D BN, 8TH MAR, (GCE, SPMAGTF-AFGHANISTAN), CAMP LEJEUNE, NC SAN ANTONIO, UNITED STATES 02/07/2009
Kevin T. Preach’s shyness didn’t define him.
“He was quiet at first, but that is not at all who he was,” said Dan Linehan, who met Preach in middle school. “He was outgoing, friendly. He was a very, very unselfish kid. He just wanted to be in the Marines to show that he could do something to help.”
Preach, 21, of Bridgewater, Mass., died Feb. 7 from wounds suffered Jan. 24 while supporting combat operations in Farah province. He was a 2007 high school graduate and was assigned to Camp Lejeune. Preach’s family and friends said he always wanted to be a Marine since he was a young child, perhaps because his father had been one as well.
“He knew what it entailed, and he never complained or talked about how dangerous it was,” said Brianna Kelliher, Preach’s girlfriend. “He once said that he wasn’t afraid to die, he was just afraid of what it would do to all the people around him.”
“He was the funniest person I have ever met,” said Kelliher. “He would always make sure that everyone around him was comfortable, so he would always tell jokes.”
Lance Corporal Kevin T. Preach, 21, of Bridgewater, Massachusetts, was a 2007 graduate of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School. Fearless, mature, big-hearted, with an unforgettable smile, he dreamed from the time he was a youngster of joining the Marine Corps. He enlisted in October 2007, and graduated Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S.C. in January 2008 before he transfered to Camp Lejeune, NC in February. On November 12, 2008, he deployed to Farah Province, Afghanistan as a machine gunner with Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
On January 24, the Humvee in which he was a gunner was hit by an improvised explosive device and he was severely injured. He was transported to a medical site in Germany for care where he was stabilized and transferred to Brooks Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he was in a medically induced coma until his death.
Kevin’s younger brother Dan had decided to join the Marine Reserves, and Kevin tried to talk him out of it, not wanting their mother to have 2 sons at war. But Dan admired his brother too much. Dan finished boot camp the day before Kevin arrived at Brooks Army Center. Kevin was kept on life-support until Dan had the opportunity to say good-bye to his much admired older brother.
Kevin was the beloved son of Laurie Hayes of Bridgewater and the late Daniel Mark Preach. Loving brother of Private Daniel James Preach, USMC of South Carolina, Michelle Bailey and Kristen Pagnotta both of Brockton. Proud grandson of Peter and Nancy Bresciani and the late Frank DeAngelo and Kathleen DeAngelo . And Kevin was the loving and devoted boyfriend of Brianna Kelliher of Bridgewater.
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