For Release
July 12, 2004

Former cadet Timothy Creager dies in Iraq

          Marine Lance Cpl. Timothy Ryan Creager of Millington, Tenn., was buried in Memphis on Saturday, ten days after he was killed in Iraq. A former cadet, Creager had entered The Citadel in September 2001 as a member of the Class of 2005 but left after the end of his sophomore year to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps.         

Timothy Creager in a 2003 yearbook photo.

  Many of his Echo Company classmates in the Class of 2005 attended the funeral according to Cadet Andy Frey, commander of Echo Company for the coming year. Frey said cadets from as far away as Oregon came in to pay their respects.

During his two years at The Citadel, Creager was a popular cadet who served as a role model for discipline, commitment and dedication according to Frey. "He exemplified the word gentleman to every extent," Frey said.

Friends of the family agreed with that description. According to Rusty Wheelington, minister of the Raleigh Baptist Church in Memphis, the young Marine was "very focused, very intense about being part of the military."

           Creager, 21, had been in Iraq since February with the 2nd LAR BN, Delta C., 3rd Platoon stationed at Camp LeJeune, NC. He was killed on July 1 during an attack in Fallujah.           

           While at The Citadel, Creager was a criminal justice major and member of Echo Company. He was also active with the Baptist campus ministry and played lacrosse.

           The former cadet follows six Citadel alumni who have died in the war on terror. They include:      

• U.S. Army Capt. Daniel William Eggers, Class of '97, who died in Afghanistan on May 29th. He was a member of Echo Company
• U.S. Army Capt. Christopher James Kenny of Miami, Fla., died May 3 in Iraq. Kenny was a member of Lima Company. He graduated in 1993 with a degree in history.
• Charles Henry Buehring, 40, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, died Oct. 26, 2003. He was a 1985 graduate.
• Lt. Peter Ober, 27, a member of the Class of 1998 and a Navy helicopter pilot, died July 16th.
• Marine Capt. Benjamin Sammis, 29, of Rehoboth, Mass., died April 5. A Cobra helicopter pilot, he graduated in 1996.
• Marine 1st Lt. Therrel Shane Childers, a member of The Citadel Class of 2001, died in combat on March 21 in Iraq. He was 30 and reportedly the first American casualty of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Childers attended The Citadel as an active duty Marine, attending classes as a day student in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program.
  

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