TRENTON, FL, USA U.S. Marines SGT, WPNS CO, 1ST BN, 8TH MAR, RCT-7, 1ST MAR DIV, CAMP PENDLETON, CA AL ANBAR PROVINCE, IRAQ 08/18/2004
Sergeant Richard M. Lord died on August 18, 2004, just 10 days before his 25th birthday, from injuries received due to enemy action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. His unit was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The twenty-four year old Marine was from Fanning Springs, 35 miles west of Gainesville in north-central Florida. The Gilchrist County resident had dreamed of serving in the military since he was a little boy. His mission in life was to be a Marine. A former teacher at Trenton High School remembered that Sgt Lord left for boot camp six weeks after graduation. His mother said her son would put on a GI Joe uniform after school, climb a tree and then ask his mother if she could see him despite the camouflage.
SGT Lord is survived by his parents and two sons, a sister, and a brother and other family and friends. In August of 2010 Gilchrist County, Florida dedicated a stretch of highway between State Road 26, Fanning Springs and County Road 313 in Richard Lord’s memory. The sign designates it as “Sergeant Ricky Lord Road.”