MOUNT AIRY
Adam Marion, a Surry County native, died in Iraq this week while serving with the Army. Military officers came to his family's Mount Airy home late Monday night to tell his parents, Surry County Clerk of Superior Court Pam Marion and Donnie Marion, a magistrate.
Adam Marion was 26. Details about his death and Army career were not yet available.
He had been in the Army close to a year, a family friend said.
"His family is a very loving, very giving family, and they taught him. They instilled in him the importance of taking care of your community and your country," said Kathy Robertson, a friend. "I think that's part of the reason he joined the military."
Yesterday, the American flag at the Surry County Courthouse was lowered to half mast as word spread throughout the community of Marion's death. Clerks who work at the courthouse with his mother Pam Marion were teary-eyed as people came to offer condolences.
Adam Marion was her only son. In addition to his parents, he is survived by an older sister.
A woman who answered the phone at the Marion's home today said that the family was not ready to give a statement. They are still waiting to learn all the details, said the woman, who did not give her name.
The U.S. Department of Defense had not confirmed Marion's death by late this afternoon. The department of defense waits 24 hours before releasing details of a war casualty to the public, a spokeswoman said.
Adam Marion graduated in 2000 from Surry Central High School, where he was on the golf team. He loved to hunt deer.
He was very family oriented, said Robertson, who is the finance officer at Surry Central and whose husband is a cousin.
Marion loved being around his family, she said.
A few weeks ago, he was back in Surry County on leave.
"He loved to have fun," Robertson said. "Just being around him would make you laugh, and he loved to cut up and pick. He was just fun to be around."
The family and community are overwhelmed with grief, friends said yesterday.
"He was such a good fine young man," Robertson said. "He was a good Christian boy. And he loved life to the fullest. They're devastated. It's a loss for our community.
■ Sherry Youngquist can be reached in Mount Airy at 336-789-9338 or at syoungquist@wsjournal.com.
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