Marine Corps News, news from Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Intelligence site named for slain Ind. Marine

KOKOMO, Ind. — The family of Lance Cpl. James Swain is proud that the Marine Corps named a building at its intelligence base in Virginia after him. But it’s an honor that comes with mixed feelings.

Swain, 20, of Kokomo was fatally shot four years ago during fighting in the Iraqi city of Fallujah.

“It’s an honor I wouldn’t wish on anyone else,” his older brother, Ben, told the Kokomo Tribune.

“We’d rather have James here,” said his father, Dan Swain.

Members of Swain’s family attended a dedication ceremony this month at the James E. Swain Annex, attached to the Marine Corps Intelligence Activity command in Quantico, Va. The $15 million, 35,000-square-foot building has room for about 200 workers.

During the visit, they met some of Swain’s former comrades and heard stories about him. Relatives also received the Intelligence Community Medal for Valor on his behalf, the intelligence community’s second-highest award for bravery.

Swain, a 2002 Kokomo High School graduate, was the first intelligence specialist to die in Iraq, according to the Marine Corps. He was a rear-turret gunner providing cover for an intelligence team when he was shot by an insurgent. He died Nov. 15, 2004, at a hospital in Baghdad.

His family doesn’t remember him as a medal-winner, though they weren’t surprised at his heroics. They recall a boy who loved beef jerky, Mountain Dew and arguing with everybody, especially his brother.

“James irritated me,” his mother, Mona Swain, said with a laugh. “I love him to death. I always will. He was always right.”

Ben Swain recalled his brother’s belief in service, something with which he agreed.

“If not everybody could serve, everybody should want to serve,” Ben Swain said.

The family has a record of military service; James Swain’s father served in the Army and his grandfather was a Marine.

After his brother’s death, Ben Swain joined the Navy and later was assigned to the Marines. While in Fallujah, he was taken to the site where his brother was shot. The once-ravaged community now was a place where children romped.

“Those kids would not have been there before,” he said. “The people there were all families. They weren’t scared of us. We weren’t scared of them.”