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Lance Cpl. Jacob J. Toves
Lance Cpl. Jacob J. Toves, 27, of Grover Beach, Calif., died Aug. 14 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to the 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Okinawa, Japan.
Toves served as a combat engineer, and had been awarded a slew of medals for his service, including the Purple Heart, Afghanistan Campaign medal, Global War on Terrorism Service and the National Defense medal, according to the Department of Defense. Toves, who was born in Brookings, Ore., on July 24, 1981, grew up in the Five Cities area, attending local schools including Grover Beach Elementary, where he graduated kindergarten. He also attended Ocean View Elementary from first through sixth grade and Paulding Middle School. “He was one of those average, good kids,” said Judy Leonard, Toves’ high school guidance counselor. “He wasn’t a kid who got into trouble. He was quiet and respectful.” Toves joined the Marine Corps in November 2006, and was under contract as active duty until at least 2010. He completed basic training, Marine combat training and Military Occupational Safety school in June 2007, earning the rank of private first class, according to his MySpace Web page. Joe Toves, Arroyo Grande High teacher Randy Fiser, who had Toves in an architecture class in 1998, also remembered the fallen Marine as someone who was a good student, with a great smile. “He had a quiet strength and confidence around him,” Fiser said, adding he was shocked to learn of Toves’ death. “He was quiet and polite, not rowdy or boisterous like most teenage boys.” Fiser saw Toves a few years ago when his former student came back to ask him to write a letter recommending him for military service. “He was so excited about it,” Fiser said, adding he now wished he hadn’t signed the letter. “You can’t make decisions for other people, and that’s what he wanted” Fiser said. “I told him to keep his head down. I feel so sorry for his family.” |
Marine Saluting Courtesy Sgt Michal S. Williams
Childhood friend Lance Padilla, a Nipomo resident, saw Toves the day before he left for basic training, and said his friend believed in what he was going to do as a soldier. “I definitely think he felt he was doing a good thing,” Padilla said, adding Toves’ family didn’t support his decision to join the military. Growing up, Toves never showed an interest in joining the military, but after he graduated high school, he began looking to belong, and the Marines offered the camaraderie Toves was searching out, Padilla said. He also said it’s hard knowing he’ll never see his close friend again — Toves and Padilla met when they were 5 years old — that he went to school and church with, and spent many days and nights with skateboarding around the Five Cities.“Everyone should know Jacob was a nice guy who cared about people,” Padilla said. “He was a great person.” On his MySpace blog that he wrote in 2006, Toves listed surviving deployment to a war zone among his two-year goals. “My two year goal is to survive deployment and be an upstanding Marine,” Toves wrote on his MySpace blog. “I believe in doing my utmost to encounter, engage, capture or destroy any enemy troops ....” He listed his interests as anything with a board — skate, snow, surf, wake, etc. — and music. He also wrote that he was interested in neuroscience, bioengineering, etiquette, the arts, electronics, doctorates and philosophical theology. According to his MySpace page, Toves was also working at furthering his education, and wanted to have a master’s degree within the next five years.
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