| Birth: | Sep. 26, 1980
California, USA | | Death: | Nov. 11, 2004
Al Anbar, Iraq | 
A 1999 Flintridge Preparatory School graduate and graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. Second Lt. James P. Blecksmith, or JP to everyone who knew him. Blecksmith had soldiering in his blood. His father, longtime San Marino resident Ed Blecksmith, was in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. As a boy, Blecksmith would dig out his father's old jungle utilities, dress himself for battle and dig a hole in a vacant lot next door to the home they lived in in Seattle for about five years.
JP Blecksmith was the youngest of three children. He played football at Flintridge Prep - quarterback - and ran track, making it to the CIF finals in about 10 events during high school, his father said.
Blecksmith was athletic and intelligent, with good SAT scores, and he was recruited by the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., his father said. There, he continued his football career, playing wide receiver for the Navy Midshipmen.
"He did everything that a father could ever want or ask of a son,' Ed Blecksmith said.
After four more months of training, he was deployed to Iraq on Sept. 10. His family was notified Thursday night - Veterans Day - that he had been killed. "It was devastating,' Blecksmith said. "I can't describe the emptiness I feel, the hurt I feel, the pain I feel, as does my wife.'
Family links:
Parents:
Pamela M. Blecksmith (1947 - 2008)
| | | Burial:
San Gabriel Cemetery
San Gabriel
Los Angeles County
California, USA |
Created by: Joe Walker
Record added: Nov 18, 2004
Find A Grave Memorial# 9917529 |
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I watched the flag pass by one day. ~ It fluttered in the breeze. ~ A young Marine saluted it, ~ And then he stood at ease. ~ I looked at him in uniform, ~ So young, so tall, so proud, ~ I knew he would stand out ~ To me there was no doubt ~ I thought how...(Read more)
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BrendaArndt51
Added: May. 15, 2013 |
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sniksnak
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Les
Added: May. 9, 2013 |
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