Lance Cpl. Jason E. Smith

Lance Cpl. Jason E. Smith, 21, of Phoenix, Ariz. died Dec. 31 as a result of hostile action in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. He was assigned to 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, Calif

Jason E. Smith's last letters home talked about wanting to tell people about the "scary" times of war _ the horrors of seeing "dead bodies" and "dead Marines." While he shared his doubts about being in Iraq, he said he had also come to a new understanding. "Someone needs to do it," he wrote. "I'm glad to help these innocent Iraqis out." Smith, 21, of Phoenix was killed Dec. 31 while on patrol in Anbar province. He was based at Camp Pendleton. Smith loved baseball and was a good enough pitcher to earn a scholarship to Glendale Community College. But he passed up the opportunity in order to enlist in the Marines, deciding he wanted to "grow up" before trying for a career in the sport. In the months before his death, he had dropped his rebellious ways and become religious. Before the offensive on Fallujah, he was baptized by chaplains who filled rubber dinghies with water. "It was like he grew up to another level at the end," said his father, Glenn. His last letters to his father and mother, Jodi, arrived the day of his death. "Reading them after set us at ease," his father said. "It provided a final chapter to his worldly life."