Last
April, Erika Sullivan took a leap of faith and wrote to her
one-time boyfriend in Iraq, telling him how much she loved him.
Across an ocean, Lance Cpl. Vincent M. Sullivan was doing the
same thing at about the same time. The letters passed in the
mail, and after Vincent Sullivan returned from his first tour in
Iraq, the two were engaged. They celebrated their Dec. 27
wedding by going bowling and planned to visit Hawaii for their
honeymoon when he returned for good. Sullivan, 23, of Chatham,
N.J., died July 23 during a firefight in Anbar province. He was
based at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Sullivan had worked for a Manhattan
accounting firm while taking classes at County College of
Morris, said his mother, Susanne Sullivan. He had toyed with the
idea of joining the Marines before, but after Sept. 11, "he was
determined to do the right thing, join the Marines and fight,"
his mother said. "He was there so that other people would not
have to be, so that other people would not die," said his wife,
Erika. "He was there because his instincts told him to be."
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