Justin grew up in Wixom and Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where he attended high school. He had always wanted to be a Marine, his father said, and arranged to join the Marine Corps before he graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in June of 2003. Shortly after graduation he enlisted. He was always fun-filled, adventurous, and unafraid of a challenge to try something to see if he could do it. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Trained in handling explosives, he was deployed to Iraq as part of a reconnaissance force that helped to evacuate civilians from Fallujah to prevent them from getting hurt in the battle. Promoted to Lance Cpl., he believed that he and his fellow soldiers were doing some good and making a difference in Iraq. "He was going into the night with a group of other soldiers to (rescue civilians)," said his father. "He was actually saving lives. He would say he could see the look on their faces (that they were so relieved to see them). He was proud of the job he was doing. In my many conversations with him he would get mad at what was being reported to the public. He would say 'Dad we are making a difference to these people.' That made me very proud." In his last conversation home, he said to his father, "Dad I love you." Justin was killed when a homemade bomb struck the vehicle he was riding in with several other Marines in the Fallujah area of Iraq. He was a true hero. Survivors include his father, John; mother, Tracy Loveberry; his step-mother Deborah and three brothers; Jareth, Travis and Nicholas Loveberry; and a sister, Jessica Ellsworth.
Justin grew up in Wixom and Mount Pleasant, Michigan, where he attended high school. He had always wanted to be a Marine, his father said, and arranged to join the Marine Corps before he graduated from Mount Pleasant High School in June of 2003. Shortly after graduation he enlisted. He was always fun-filled, adventurous, and unafraid of a challenge to try something to see if he could do it. He was assigned to Combat Service Support Battalion of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Trained in handling explosives, he was deployed to Iraq as part of a reconnaissance force that helped to evacuate civilians from Fallujah to prevent them from getting hurt in the battle. Promoted to Lance Cpl., he believed that he and his fellow soldiers were doing some good and making a difference in Iraq. "He was going into the night with a group of other soldiers to (rescue civilians)," said his father. "He was actually saving lives. He would say he could see the look on their faces (that they were so relieved to see them). He was proud of the job he was doing. In my many conversations with him he would get mad at what was being reported to the public. He would say 'Dad we are making a difference to these people.' That made me very proud." In his last conversation home, he said to his father, "Dad I love you." Justin was killed when a homemade bomb struck the vehicle he was riding in with several other Marines in the Fallujah area of Iraq. He was a true hero. Survivors include his father, John; mother, Tracy Loveberry; his step-mother Deborah and three brothers; Jareth, Travis and Nicholas Loveberry; and a sister, Jessica Ellsworth.
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