Army Ranger, Marine started young in pre-training program

Jeremy Murray had been a military man his whole life.

“From about the time he could walk, Jeremy had always been interested in it,” said his mother, Pamela. “I remember when he was little he and his friends were always painting their faces with camouflage and playing with their guns in the woods.”

Jeremy, who served in both the Army Rangers and then the Marines, was killed by an improvised explosive device near Hadithah, Iraq.

“That is what Jeremy loved to do,” said Pamela, referring to Jeremy’s military career.

When he was younger, Murray participated in a program called The Explorers. It was a sort of pre-training program that taught them military procedures like how to tear apart a gun and put it back together. They also learned community service by volunteering and working local benefits.

Nick Hulea, principal at Waterloo High School where Jeremy attended, said Murray was one of those kids a lot of the teachers didn’t remember a whole lot about because he was quiet and he never got in much trouble.

Recently, Jeremy’s parents began searching for soldiers he had served with. They found one such person in Adam Ralston of Cincinnati. Ralston served in the Army Rangers with Murray. They drove to Columbus to meet him.

Ralston was unwilling to speak with the Daily Kent Stater.

“It was nice. We met and had lunch,” Pamela said. “Then we drove to Sunbury to see the memorial.”

Sunbury is the location of the only state-funded memorial honoring Ohio’s fallen soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. According to its Web site at www.ohiofallenheroes.org, 184 Ohioans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and one is missing in action.

Murray left behind a wife, Megan, and his now 7-year-old son, Ian. Despite several attempts, Megan could not be reached for comment.

“Megan made a great military wife,” Pamela said. “All the traveling and the time apart, she never complained.”

Jeremy and Megan had been married five years at the time of his death.

Contact public affairs reporter Channing Hindel at [email protected].