A memorial for fallen Marines from the 3/4, including Tim's good friend Cpl. Jason Mileo, who died April 14, 2003
April 14, 2003
Marine Cpl. Jason David Mileo, 20, Centreville, Md.
The last time his parents heard from Marine Cpl. Jason David Mileo, he was calling them from the central Baghdad square where a statue of Saddam Hussein was being toppled April 9.
His grandfather, Walter J. Hall, said a reporter gave Mileo a satellite phone to call and tell his parents, Phillip J. Hall and Leah Mileo Hall, that he was there. They weren't home to take his call, but have saved the message on their answering machine.
"It was the first time they'd heard from him since war started, and they were extremely relieved and happy to hear he was alive and well and in Baghdad and that victory was imminent," Hall said.
On April 14, five days later, Mileo was shot and killed after he was mistaken for an enemy soldier, the Defense Department said.
Mileo, 20, of Centreville, Md., was assigned to the India Company of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, based in Twentynine Palms, Calif. He joined the Marines after graduating from Chesapeake Senior High School in Pasadena, Md., aiming to earn money and see the world, and hoping that what he learned would help him choose his career wisely.
In one of his last letters, sent to his grandfather from Kuwait, Mileo wrote: "I hope we don't have to go to war, but I'm ready to defend the nation."
