PONTOTOC, MS, USA U.S. Marines LCPL, 9TH ESB (-), (CLB-2, 2D FSSG FWD), 3D FSSG, OKINAWA, JAPAN ASR URANIUM, IRAQ 06/08/2005
It was Mark Lucas Tucker’s dream to join the Marines. He was patient and determined and achieved this goal after a four year wait. Lucas graduated from high school in 1999 and wanted to enter the Maine Corps, but wasn’t accepted until 2003 because of injuries from an accident.
“He kept on working and trying until he reached his goal,” said former classmate Shaina Long. “It was his passion to be in the Marines, and he worked hard at it.”
Tucker, 24, of Pontotoc, Miss., was killed June 8 in a vehicle accident in Asr Uranium. He was stationed in Okinawa, Japan.
The 5-foot-11 Marine was adventurous, patriotic and fun-loving.
“Lucas was a young man who enjoyed life,” said his high school principal, Adam Pugh. “He was a prankster. He liked to joke around with folks a lot.”
The former high school baseball catcher was an avid fisherman and hunter who loved the outdoors. “He made friends anywhere he went,” family friend Christi Littlejohn, said.
His mother and stepfather, Donna and Kelly Bagwell, and his father, Mark Tucker, survive Tucker.