Dashawn Longfellow, 23, was found slain on Aug. 14, 2010 at Yanui Paradise Resort on Phuket Island. He was a 2005 graduate of Norman High School and had traveled to Thailand in an effort to gain more knowledge of a form of martial arts. Memorial services will be held Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010.
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His given name was Dashawn Longfellow, but the Norman High School graduate was known simply as "Deeds" to the Marines who served with him. Longfellow, 23, was killed Saturday in Thailand, reportedly stabbed to death by a British man who fought him earlier that night in a bar. "He didn't deserve what happened to him," close friend Kelly Cochran wrote in an e-mail to The Oklahoman. "The man responsible will be caught, and I pray for his soul. As for Deeds, I'm not worried about him because I know he's at peace." Matt Gronbach, a Marine who called Longfellow "a great mentor to me and a (superior) machine-gunner" in Afghanistan, explained the source of his popular name. "He got the nickname Deeds off the movie 'Mr. Deeds' because Adam Sandler's first name in the movie was Longfellow and his last Deeds," he said. Cochran said her husband, Beaux, and Longfellow served four years together with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. She said the two were inseparable — he had a room at their home when they were stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif. — and described Longfellow as "a happy guy, carefree and full of laughter." Kelly Cochran said her husband and Longfellow were deployed twice with "the Marines of 2/7" — first to Iraq and then to Afghanistan, where both were wounded. "Deeds was wounded when the Taliban shot an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) into the turret of his MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle)," Cochran wrote. "This was shortly after my husband returned back to the States. When we got the news about Deeds getting hurt, we were both worried but glad that he was alive." Beaux Cochran is back in Afghanistan, while Longfellow recently left the corps to move to Thailand and train to become a Muay Thai fighter — a goal, Kelly Cochran wrote, that Longfellow told them he would pursue. Daniel Lenel, a former wrestling teammate at Norman High, said he hadn't seen Longfellow in a few years, but remembers "a smile that could light up any room." Lenel recalled being a Norman High freshman at wrestling practice when Longfellow, an older and more experienced teammate, took the time to stop the ninth-grader and show him the proper technique of a particular move. "He was always helping someone or trying to get them to laugh," he said. Grant Atteberry said Longfellow, a former classmate at Irving Middle School and Norman High, was an easygoing person who could strike up a conversation with anyone, yet had a focus and determination about him. "He was really driven," Atteberry said. "Every time he put his head into something, he always did the best he could."
(Daily Oklahoman, James Tyree, writer, Aug. 18, 2010)
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His given name was Dashawn Longfellow, but the Norman High School graduate was known simply as "Deeds" to the Marines who served with him. Longfellow, 23, was killed Saturday in Thailand, reportedly stabbed to death by a British man who fought him earlier that night in a bar. "He didn't deserve what happened to him," close friend Kelly Cochran wrote in an e-mail to The Oklahoman. "The man responsible will be caught, and I pray for his soul. As for Deeds, I'm not worried about him because I know he's at peace." Matt Gronbach, a Marine who called Longfellow "a great mentor to me and a (superior) machine-gunner" in Afghanistan, explained the source of his popular name. "He got the nickname Deeds off the movie 'Mr. Deeds' because Adam Sandler's first name in the movie was Longfellow and his last Deeds," he said. Cochran said her husband, Beaux, and Longfellow served four years together with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. She said the two were inseparable — he had a room at their home when they were stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif. — and described Longfellow as "a happy guy, carefree and full of laughter." Kelly Cochran said her husband and Longfellow were deployed twice with "the Marines of 2/7" — first to Iraq and then to Afghanistan, where both were wounded. "Deeds was wounded when the Taliban shot an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) into the turret of his MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle)," Cochran wrote. "This was shortly after my husband returned back to the States. When we got the news about Deeds getting hurt, we were both worried but glad that he was alive." Beaux Cochran is back in Afghanistan, while Longfellow recently left the corps to move to Thailand and train to become a Muay Thai fighter — a goal, Kelly Cochran wrote, that Longfellow told them he would pursue. Daniel Lenel, a former wrestling teammate at Norman High, said he hadn't seen Longfellow in a few years, but remembers "a smile that could light up any room." Lenel recalled being a Norman High freshman at wrestling practice when Longfellow, an older and more experienced teammate, took the time to stop the ninth-grader and show him the proper technique of a particular move. "He was always helping someone or trying to get them to laugh," he said. Grant Atteberry said Longfellow, a former classmate at Irving Middle School and Norman High, was an easygoing person who could strike up a conversation with anyone, yet had a focus and determination about him. "He was really driven," Atteberry said. "Every time he put his head into something, he always did the best he could."
(Daily Oklahoman, James Tyree, writer, Aug. 18, 2010)
Dashawn Longfellow, 23, was found slain on Aug. 14, 2010 at Yanui Paradise Resort on Phuket Island. He was a 2005 graduate of Norman High School and had traveled to Thailand in an effort to gain more knowledge of a form of martial arts. Memorial services will be held Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010.
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His given name was Dashawn Longfellow, but the Norman High School graduate was known simply as "Deeds" to the Marines who served with him. Longfellow, 23, was killed Saturday in Thailand, reportedly stabbed to death by a British man who fought him earlier that night in a bar. "He didn't deserve what happened to him," close friend Kelly Cochran wrote in an e-mail to The Oklahoman. "The man responsible will be caught, and I pray for his soul. As for Deeds, I'm not worried about him because I know he's at peace." Matt Gronbach, a Marine who called Longfellow "a great mentor to me and a (superior) machine-gunner" in Afghanistan, explained the source of his popular name. "He got the nickname Deeds off the movie 'Mr. Deeds' because Adam Sandler's first name in the movie was Longfellow and his last Deeds," he said. Cochran said her husband, Beaux, and Longfellow served four years together with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. She said the two were inseparable — he had a room at their home when they were stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif. — and described Longfellow as "a happy guy, carefree and full of laughter." Kelly Cochran said her husband and Longfellow were deployed twice with "the Marines of 2/7" — first to Iraq and then to Afghanistan, where both were wounded. "Deeds was wounded when the Taliban shot an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) into the turret of his MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle)," Cochran wrote. "This was shortly after my husband returned back to the States. When we got the news about Deeds getting hurt, we were both worried but glad that he was alive." Beaux Cochran is back in Afghanistan, while Longfellow recently left the corps to move to Thailand and train to become a Muay Thai fighter — a goal, Kelly Cochran wrote, that Longfellow told them he would pursue. Daniel Lenel, a former wrestling teammate at Norman High, said he hadn't seen Longfellow in a few years, but remembers "a smile that could light up any room." Lenel recalled being a Norman High freshman at wrestling practice when Longfellow, an older and more experienced teammate, took the time to stop the ninth-grader and show him the proper technique of a particular move. "He was always helping someone or trying to get them to laugh," he said. Grant Atteberry said Longfellow, a former classmate at Irving Middle School and Norman High, was an easygoing person who could strike up a conversation with anyone, yet had a focus and determination about him. "He was really driven," Atteberry said. "Every time he put his head into something, he always did the best he could."
(Daily Oklahoman, James Tyree, writer, Aug. 18, 2010)
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His given name was Dashawn Longfellow, but the Norman High School graduate was known simply as "Deeds" to the Marines who served with him. Longfellow, 23, was killed Saturday in Thailand, reportedly stabbed to death by a British man who fought him earlier that night in a bar. "He didn't deserve what happened to him," close friend Kelly Cochran wrote in an e-mail to The Oklahoman. "The man responsible will be caught, and I pray for his soul. As for Deeds, I'm not worried about him because I know he's at peace." Matt Gronbach, a Marine who called Longfellow "a great mentor to me and a (superior) machine-gunner" in Afghanistan, explained the source of his popular name. "He got the nickname Deeds off the movie 'Mr. Deeds' because Adam Sandler's first name in the movie was Longfellow and his last Deeds," he said. Cochran said her husband, Beaux, and Longfellow served four years together with the 2nd Battalion, 7th Marines. She said the two were inseparable — he had a room at their home when they were stationed at Twentynine Palms, Calif. — and described Longfellow as "a happy guy, carefree and full of laughter." Kelly Cochran said her husband and Longfellow were deployed twice with "the Marines of 2/7" — first to Iraq and then to Afghanistan, where both were wounded. "Deeds was wounded when the Taliban shot an RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) into the turret of his MRAP (mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle)," Cochran wrote. "This was shortly after my husband returned back to the States. When we got the news about Deeds getting hurt, we were both worried but glad that he was alive." Beaux Cochran is back in Afghanistan, while Longfellow recently left the corps to move to Thailand and train to become a Muay Thai fighter — a goal, Kelly Cochran wrote, that Longfellow told them he would pursue. Daniel Lenel, a former wrestling teammate at Norman High, said he hadn't seen Longfellow in a few years, but remembers "a smile that could light up any room." Lenel recalled being a Norman High freshman at wrestling practice when Longfellow, an older and more experienced teammate, took the time to stop the ninth-grader and show him the proper technique of a particular move. "He was always helping someone or trying to get them to laugh," he said. Grant Atteberry said Longfellow, a former classmate at Irving Middle School and Norman High, was an easygoing person who could strike up a conversation with anyone, yet had a focus and determination about him. "He was really driven," Atteberry said. "Every time he put his head into something, he always did the best he could."
(Daily Oklahoman, James Tyree, writer, Aug. 18, 2010)
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