Marines remember and honor a fallen brother

Photo By Cpl. Daniel Blatter | In remembrance of their fallen brother, Lance Cpl. Thomas Edward Rivers Jr., Marines with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, honor him in a memorial ceremony, May 12. Brig. Gen. Joseph Osterman, 1st Marine Division Forward commanding general, takes a knee to pay his respects to Rivers. Rivers was born March 19, 1988. He graduated from Briarwood Christian School in Hoover, Alabama. He joined the Marine Corps on June 11, 2007 and became an infantryman. Rivers passed, April 28, while 1st Squad was performing a mission preventing the enemy from firing at Patrol Base Sofla, in Helmand province.  

COMBAT OUTPOST CAFFERETTA, AFGHANISTAN

05.12.2010

Courtesy Story

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

COMBAT OUTPOST CAFFERETTA, Afghanistan – Marines with 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 2, gathered aboard Combat Outpost Cafferetta, to honor their fallen brother-in-arms, May 12.

Lance Cpl. Thomas Edward Rivers Jr. was born March 19, 1988. He joined the Marine Corps on June 11, 2007 and became an infantryman. On Nov. 9, 2007, Rivers reported for duty with Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines.

While serving with 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, Rivers deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from July 2008 to February 2009.

In 2010, he deployed again to Helmand province, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Rivers, a Hoover, Ala. native, passed away, April 28, while 1st squad was performing a mission to prevent the enemy from firing at Patrol Base Sofla.

Rivers set up security in a compound just north of Sofla after covering watch for a fellow Marine moments before. When he took over watch, he triggered an anti-personnel improvised explosive devise.

His squad quickly held security and cared for Rivers, and Lance Cpl. Matthew Proctor, a team leader with 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Bn., 2nd Marines, RCT-2, made his way to Rivers and began talking to him.

Just so happens, two nights earlier, Rivers read Proctor his life verse from Psalms 91. Proctor took it upon himself to recite it to Rivers as they talked before Rivers succumbed to his wounds.

"Rivers was a religious man. He could often be found reading and praying Psalms 91," said Capt. Jeremy Wilkinson, a 34-year-old from Cambridge, Ohio, and the company commander for A Company, 1st Bn., 2nd Marines, RCT-2. "The loss of Lance Cpl. Rivers is tragic, but his efforts will impact generations through lives saved and the good he did."

To many, Rivers was more than a Marine or a fellow brother-in-arms, he was their friend.
"Rivers was one of the best Marines I have ever known," said Cpl. Justin Palmer, a team leader with 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, A Company, 1st Bn., 2nd Marines. "He was also the best at his job, and I have and will always consider him my best friend."

"I thank god for putting Rivers in my life and I'll forever be thankful for all he has done for me and for others," added Palmer, 22, from Enoree, S.C. "I know my friend Rivers is now in a better place and I will see him again one day. He will always be remembered."

While deployed to Afghanistan, Rivers served as the team leader for 1st Squad, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company, 1st Bn., 2nd Marines, RCT-2. He is survived by his mother, Charon Rivers, and father, Thomas Edward Rivers Sr.

"He was one of a kind, a true warrior," said his friend Proctor in his final words to Rivers. "Rivers, you will never be forgotten, for people do not forget a brother. You will always be with us in how we carry ourselves, the way we talk, in our smiles and in our tears. You will be with us in all of our actions, our minds, and most importantly our hearts."

• Date Taken: 05.12.2010
• Date Posted: 05.13.2010 06:24
• Story ID: 49580
• Location: COMBAT OUTPOST CAFFERETTA, AF