Captain Brian Scott Letendre – USMC Operation Iraqi Freedom (05.13.1978 – 05.03.2006)
A photograph is nestled in the holiday wreath that graces Capt Letendre’s grave marker. It captures the proud face of a father and his smiling young son. Born the day before his father’s platoon crossed into Iraq, Dillon was lovingly referred to as “little man” by his father.
Capt Letendre joined the Marines in 2000. According to Letendre’s family “He felt a call to something much greater than himself at an early age and followed his heart to where he felt he could help make this world a better place.” Letendre took part in the 2003 Iraq invasion, for which he was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal for Valor.
Capt Letendre was killed by an Iraqi suicide bomber in Al Anbar province just ten days prior to his twenty-eighth birthday. In a statement following his death the Letendre family wrote “He [Capt Letendre] wasn’t ordered to go back to Iraq for another combat tour, and his unit was not going to deploy there, but he selflessly and courageously volunteered to go help train the Iraqi forces . . .Brian just didn’t feel right being back here in the U.S. while other Marines were serving overseas, and wanted to get back to the front lines as soon as he could.”
With the words “On behalf of the President of the United States, a grateful nation, and a proud Marine Corps, this flag is presented as a token of our appreciation for the honorable and faithful service rendered by your loved one to his country and Marine Corps”, three year old Dillon Letendre was presented with an American flag at his father’s burial.
Captain Brian Scott Letendre rests among other heroes in Section 60 of Arlington National Cemetery.