1st Lieutenant Ronald Winchester was killed on September 3, 2004 when an IED detonated near his vehicle in Al Anbar province, Iraq.  He was reportedly at the front, guarding a convoy, in his company’s first combat patrol when the IED exploded on the bridge they were crossing.  1st Lt. Winchester was assigned to 1^st Battalion, 7^th Marine Regiment, 1^st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, and was on his second tour in Iraq.  Ronald was a 2001 graduate of the United States Naval Academy and a member of the football team.  1st Lieutenant Winchester was among four Marines killed in the September 3 bombing.

“Ron was a very gregarious type of individual who was always in the middle of things,” said his father, also named Ronald.  “He was a true leader, always respected by his peers and dedicated to what he was doing.”

Winchester was part of a longstanding family history in the military, even serving in the same division as his grandfather.  He is survived by his parents, as well as aunts, uncles and very close friends.  More than 1,000 people attended his funeral and the Southern State Parkway on Long Island was closed for the procession.

“When he came home last time, he sat in the dining room telling stories,” family friend Maureen Chiaramonte recounted, “He said, “Aunt Mo, you know what it’s like.  You get a choice to sit on the bench or play the game.  I don’t want to sit on the bench.”

The Travis Manion Foundation honored 1st Lieutenant Ronald Winchester through the Character Does Matter program presented during the USNA’s Summer Seminar and USNA STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) Camp for rising 11^th graders.