Every once in awhile I like to put a name to the number. So many deaths in Iraq, and we hear the numbers, but we don’t hear who these people are. This blog has had more hits for “Shaun Blue” than I can count. So I googled him. Being from Chicago, I know Munster, Indiana. It’s right over the state line. Read about Shaun Blue. What a huge black hole in their hearts his friends and family must feel. If you are a friend of his and you end up here at the Blue Herald, please do leave a comment. Tell us about Shaun Blue. I’d like to hear more about this exceptional young man who lost his life in Iraq. My sympathies to his friends and family. What a tragic loss!

Rest in Peace 1st Lt. Shaun M. Blue!

1st Lt. Shaun M. Blue, 25, of Munster, Indiana, died April 16, 2007, while conducting combat operations in Al Anbar province, Iraq. Blue was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Twentynine Palms, California.

A 25-year-old National Merit student who was a top 10 student in his Munster High School class was killed Monday while conducting combat operations in Anbar province, Iraq.
1st Lt. Shaun Blue could have achieved anything, said Munster High School Principal Steven Tripenfeldas, but Blue chose to join the Marine Corps in 2004. Blue was deployed to Iraq in January and was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, where he won numerous awards, including the National Defense Service Medal, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, the Combat Action Ribbon and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon.

Before he joined the Marines, Blue was winning awards at Munster High, where he was ranked in the top 10 of his senior class of 2000, was in the highest honors group for his year and was a National Merit Commended Student.

“Talk about a kid that was mentally tough,” Tripenfeldas said. “He was one of those kids who did things everyone else was afraid to do.”

Tripenfeldas said he felt sick to his stomach when he found out Tuesday afternoon that one of his star students had been killed. Blue lived within walking distance of the high school, and his family has been a major influence in the Munster community.

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