Jason Franco

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RIVERSIDE, CA, USA

U.S. Marines

PFC, MALS-11, MAG-11, 3D MAW, MCAS MIRAMAR, SAN DIEGO, CA

AL ASAD, IRAQ 10/31/2006

With little fanfare, Jason Franco deployed to Iraq on Oct. 5. He didn’t like saying goodbye, said his father, Genaro. Even so, Franco told his father before he left that no matter what happened to him in Iraq, his father should take care of his younger brother, Kristian, 14, and sister Kuuielani, 12.

Franco, 18, of Corona, Calif., died Oct. 30 in Anbar province in a non-combat related gunshot wound. He was assigned to Miramar.

Jason started swimming when he was little boy and kept it up, playing water polo in high school. He took classes in law enforcement and loved math. You’d almost have to draw him out for answers, said Dennis Brandt, a teacher who had Jason in his English class.

He loved his mother’s lasagna and enchiladas; his favorite cat, Lucy Lou; and his new car, a Mercedes Benz C320. Jason and his cousin, Jeff Ponce, had been good friends growing up. We always wanted to have fun, Ponce said. Always looking for something to keep us entertained.

He also is survived by his mother, Guadalupe.

He was a very nice young man, very kind, said Janet Parks, an assistant principal.

Jason’s portrait is also on Poster 8