Marine's family hears the worst

[Times photo: Janel Schroeder-Norton] Bill and Diane Buesing hold a picture of Bill's son, Marine Lance Cpl. Brian Buesing, who was killed in battle Monday.

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If Brian Buesing was scared to fight in Iraq, he didn't show it.

Not to his grandfather, a U.S. Marine who won a Silver Star in the the Korean War. Or his father, who spent four years in the Marine Corps.

As his ship headed toward Iraq last month, Lance Cpl. Buesing told his family in a letter that he was ready for combat.

"I didn't travel halfway around the world on a boat full of seamen to stand around and train," he wrote.

[Buesing family photo] A family snapshot of Brian Buesing shows the young Marine during training at Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Buesing, a 20-year-old Marine who liked to fish and dance, was killed in Iraq on Sunday, the first serviceman from the Tampa Bay area to be killed in the Iraqi conflict.

"He was my little buddy," his father, Bill Buesing, said Tuesday. "I knew we were going to lose people. Unfortunately, it had to be my son."

The Pentagon said Buesing's unit apparently approached a group of Iraqi soldiers who indicated they were surrendering. But when the Marines advanced, the Iraqi soldiers opened fire, killing nine and wounding 40 near An Nasiriyah, according to the Defense Department.

Buesing's family learned something was wrong on Monday night, when a gray van arrived at his mother's house in Cedar Key.

Three Marines stepped out. They told Buesing's 14-year-old half sister, Ariele, that they had news about Buesing. Her parents weren't home, so the Marines promised to return.

"I knew it was bad," said Buesing's stepfather, Roger Steve, who helped raise Buesing since he was 6. "I had to ask them if it was the worst. They said yeah."

Family members and friends gathered in small groups on Tuesday, telling stories, remembering Buesing.

"He's just too young," said his mother, Patty, in tears. "He's just a good soldier. Such a good Marine. That's why they put him out there."

Relatives described Buesing as gregarious, a free spirit, a ladies' man who loved to dance.

"He was a regular Tom Cruise," Buesing's stepfather said. "So healthy. So young."

Buesing was born in Tampa and grew up in Pasco and Citrus counties, traveling between his father's home in New Port Richey and his mother's home in Cedar Key.

He graduated from Levy County's Cedar Key High School, where he made the honor roll. He liked to skateboard and wash his red Neon.

Buesing's friends say he was never without a smile. He was positive, full of life, they say. The life of the party. Crazy and spontaneous. Wasn't afraid of anything, one friend said Tuesday.

He first talked of joining the military in high school, saying he wanted to follow the path of his father and grandfather, William Buesing Jr. of Brooksville.

During his senior year, Brian Buesing enrolled in the Marine Corps.

"He was going to blow things up and fight for his country," his stepfather said.

Buesing's friend of seven years, Jeremy Stephens, 21, was with Buesing the day he decided to sign up for the Marines.

Stephens remembers his friend dropping down on the sidewalk right then and doing pushups. "All he wanted to do was help his country out," Stephens said.

Buesing went to boot camp at Parris Island and then moved into the barracks at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina. He spent eight months in Okinawa and then prepared to travel to the Middle East.

Buesing was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

That meant he was in a weapons platoon, in the infantry. He fired a mortar.

He had less than a year left in a four-year term, his family said. When he finished, he expected to receive $30,000, which he planned to use to attend University of Florida in Gainesville, his family said.

"It just happened so quick you know? Five days into the ... war. Two hundred-some thousand people and I have to get my boy killed," his stepfather said.

But Buesing never seemed worried, writing long letters to his family, sending the last one on Feb. 15.

In it, he wrote about the Bucs: "How about that Super Bowl? Did you make it through that Dad? Tampa Bay, Baby. Wish I could have been at ya'll's place."

And he wrote about coming home: "Hopefully we're back before August. Don't want to turn 21 in Iraq."

Buesing's death has left his family with mixed feelings about the war.

"They could have ended this thing a lot quicker," Buesing's father said. "We could have walked into Baghdad and taken it. Too many lives are being lost."

Relatives believe Buesing's grandfather, William, was taking Buesing's death particularly hard. The two were close, both fearless and adventurous. Everyone thought Buesing acted most like his grandfather, whom he called "Pop-pop."

Inside his house on Tuesday, Buesing's grandfather spoke with pride.

"You just got to pray," he said, sliding a framed photograph of his grandson across the table. "That's my boy."

Until they can give Buesing a proper burial, relatives said they would try to take comfort from their memories, from photographs, and from Buesing's last letter.

"I miss ya'll and will keep in touch," Buesing wrote. "Wish us luck and drink one for me. Miss you and love ya. Your son in the sand box, Brian."

-- Staff writer Duane Bourne contributed to this report, which also contains information from the Associated Press.

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