Number 84

Lance Cpl. Timothy J. Poole Jr., 22, a 2007 graduate of Warren East High School in Bowling Green, Kentucky, died January 24 during combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Poole served with the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force based in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He grew up in Jacksonville, Fla., and moved with his family to Bowling Green in October 2005. After Poole enlisted, the family moved back to Jacksonville, where Poole will be laid to rest in Jacksonville National Cemetery.

He attended school in Bowling Green for just a short while, but he was remembered by many who knew him as a quiet, polite young man who wanted to be Marine.

Warren East agriculture teacher Dan Costellow taught Poole in two classes.

“I remember him as a nice kid who wanted to go into the military. I was happy for him and felt like it would help him figure out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life,” Costellow said. “Anytime you hear about a soldier being killed for us, it is sad, but this young man was my student. This is just terrible and upsets me a great deal.”

Poole was Kentucky's 14th Afghanistan casualty, and the second in two months. It figures that despite only a short time living in Kentucky he told the Department of Defense that his home of record was Bowling Green. Kentucky will do that to you. Natives may bitch about a lot of things - and there are a lot of things to bitch about - but transplants see what's great.

We prefer they stay to retire.