Jonathon C. Haggin was a gung-ho former Marine who couldn't wait to rejoin his Army unit in Iraq despite suffering two broken ribs in a bomb blast.
"He was so ready to get out there and fight, the leader of his troop had to hide his guns and ammunition so he could wait for orders," said Ted Martinez, Haggin's father-in-law.
Haggin, 26, of Kingsland, Ga., was killed July 30 by a roadside bomb blast in Baghdad. He was based at Albany.
After deploying to Iraq in 2003, he worked as a security guard at Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base. He helped teach his fellow guards to fire M-16s and how to bull's-eye their targets before they graduated from their training course.
"He was a very nice, friendly guy and he was always willing to step in and help whenever it was necessary," said Jack Mercer, director of the Chaffey Community Show Band, where his father played trumpet.
He is survived by his ex-wife, Anna, and their 2-year-old daughter, Leaundra. The two had recently reconciled, and Anna was pregnant with their second child.
"I'm praying to God it's a boy. If it's a girl, she will have to be named Jonathon," she said.
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