Heavy Helicopter Squadron 464, Marine Air Group 29, 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force

Died: Feb. 17, 2006, in the Gulf of Aden, age 22

An easygoing outdoorsman who enjoyed hunting, skiing and fishing, "Ole Jim" graduated from Marple Newtown High School in 2001 and enlisted in the Marines, for whom he'd do two tours in Iraq and another in Africa. "He took his job seriously," recalls his mother Margaret. "If he was going to do something, he was going to do it right. [He] was proud to be a Marine but humble at the same time."

That humility could also be taken for having an old-fashioned nature. When he met Lesley Reed after moving to North Carolina for training, he was sure to ask her brother—a fellow Marine—whether he could take her out on a date. (The two started dating April 27, 2005.) James also took classes to become an EMT and was working on getting a license to work on civilian helicopters. In a journal, he listed his life goals: "Build a chopper, own a house in the suburbs with a pool, have a pool-table room and a two-car garage … vacation in Australia and New Zealand … go on a cruise to the Caribbean, own vacation house, be a father and a husband (the best of each)."

Achieving those goals wasn't to be.

On Feb. 17, James and nine other servicemen were killed when two CH-53 helicopters on a training mission crashed into the Gulf of Aden near Ras Siyyan.

Jack says his brother, who slept in a bulletproof vest but never said he was scared to be serving in Iraq, was not interested in the political side of things; he just wanted to do his job and get home safely. His family is incredibly proud of the man that he was and his accomplishments.

Says his father, also named James, "We've all been robbed of him."