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2/8 Marines Fondly Recalls Fallen Brother
(April 5, 2011) | 
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 CAMP
DWYER, Afghanistan (March 30, 2011) - By all accounts, Cpl. Ian Muller
(left) lived full throttle, spreading a contagious lust for life in his
wake.
The Marines of 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment gathered,
in Marjah, Helmand province, Afghanistan, to remember the team leader
from Danville, Vt., March 27.
Navy Seaman Jesse Deller, a
corpsman with 2/8, described him as fit, muscular, outspoken and loud.
“He always carried his weight and then some,” said Deller, from
Forksville, Pa. “He was the kind of guy I wanted to serve with in a
combat zone, and showed it in our training together.”
Sgt. Thomas
Whorl, Muller’s squad leader, developed a close working relationship and
friendship with Muller during the deployment.
“He is by far one
of the best team leaders and Marines I have ever had,” Whorl said. “He
would always accomplish any mission no matter how difficult or
demanding. He was my right-hand man.”
Their relationship spilled
over to off duty hours. Muller and Whorl were gym partners and movie
buddies.
“I would come off watch at midnight and stay up with him
watching movies all night, and we would critique the movies on different
categories,” recalled Whorl. “No matter how tired me and him were, we
would do that every night and then complain about how tired we were, but
still do the same thing the next night.”
Whorl said he will
always remember Muller’s big smile and loud laugh.
“When he had a
question to ask me, he always had this look on his face I can’t explain,
but if I saw that look, I knew he was going to ask me something
ridiculous or funny,” Whorl said. “The way he was always so pumped up
about doing anything and his sarcastic humor I will never forget.”
Lance Cpl. Matthew Westbrook, a friend of Muller’s in 2/8, said
Muller had a way of making any experience fun.
“He made the worst
field ops enjoyable just by being himself,” said Westbrook, from Pike
County, Ga. “No matter how tired or beat we were, he could always make
everybody laugh and smile. He had one of those smiles and laughs that
when you saw or heard it, it was contagious.”
“He was the kind of
friend who would give you the shirt off his back,” added Lance Cpl. Ryan
Moore, one of the Marines in Muller’s team and a native of Navarre,
Ohio.
Westbrook said he will always consider Muller part of his
family.
“I’ll never forget this one field op,” Westbrook
reminisced. “Cpl. Muller and I were in a fighting hole, and some point
in our conversation, he told me that the men that serve beside you are
more than friends. They’re more than people you work with; they’re
family.”
“There is no statement more true,” Westbrook said. “Cpl.
Muller was a great Marine and a great team leader, but above all, he was
my brother.”
Muller’s personal awards include the Purple Heart
Medal, Combat Action Ribbon, and the Navy and Marine Corps Good Conduct
Medal.
Muller is survived by his parents, Clifton and Susanne
Muller, five brothers, and one sister. He was 22 years old. | |
By USMC Sgt. Jesse Stence
Regimental Combat Team 1
Copyright 2011
Provided
through DVIDS
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