Camp Pendleton Marine Sgt. John Patrick “J.P.” Huling, left for his deployment to Afghanistan on Good Friday last month, even though he didn't believe the U.S. should be fighting the war there. He was killed yesterday by a bullet to the chest, shot by a militant dressed in an Afghan Army Uniform, according to his grieving mother.
The Department of Defense confirmed this in announcing Sgt. Huling's death. According to the DoD, Huling's death is under investigation.
Debbie Huling of West Chester Township, Ohio, told website Cincinnati.com her 25-year-old son J.P. had reservations about going over to Afghanistan:
“Many of his fellow Marines had been killed and other soldiers, and he just thought it was senseless. He didn’t think we should be over there. I mean, they are just there basically for the Taliban to do whatever they want with. What is going to be the result of them being over there? We are never going to change the mentality of the Afghan people. It was just a senseless thing.”
According to Mrs. Huling, her son lived with his wife of two years, Priscilla, and their dog, Soco, in Temecula. Sgt. Huling is also survived by brother Justin, a Marine attending Miami University. He also leaves behind a sister, Lauren Coach, and her daughter Tyrah.
Mrs. Huling told Cincinnati.com that despite her son's disapproval with the United States' involvement in the Afghan War, he loved being a Marine:
"He loved doing what he did. It’s in their blood. The Marines are such a tight, tight bond. It’s their second family. He didn’t like that his life was not his own, that he couldn’t just come home anytime he wanted. He didn’t like that at all, but he liked what he was doing.”
