In Memory of LCpl. Karl R. Linn, USMC KIA 01-26-05

Please click on the photo to view a video tribute to Karl.

Karl Linn from Midlothian, VA was 20 years old when he and three other young Marines were killed in an ambush in Haqlaniyah, Anbar Province, Iraq in 2005.

These are Karl's own words, a treasure and remembrance for those he left behind.

Who Am I?

I'm an engineer, an artist, or a U.S. Marine. I'm as comfortable with physics as I am with ballistics or a brush. Whether I'm feeling like the reasoned intellectual, the right brained artist, or the hard-corps Devil Dog, I've been called an enigma, a Renaissance man, or simply "Krazy Karl". I appear to be a nerd most of the time, sensitive and harmless, but around the edges I maintain just enough of the male bravado to take the lead in situations that require it. People can never quite put their finger on the nature of my personality, and the fact of the matter is, neither can I. I honestly don't know who I am, and I'm perfectly content with that, for it leaves me open to new experiences; I can be anyone I want to be, even if only for a day. Yet I always remember that I am flesh and blood like everyone else, so no matter how lonely I sometimes feel, my suffering is no different.

What Do I Want?

In the short-term, I want to establish what is best described as the American Dream. I want to be a success, but not necessarily the type that ends up in magazines. My definition of leading a successful life would leave me with a good job, a nice place to live, a great soulmate, and my own family.
However, I see that as no more than a stepping stone, a checkpoint I must pass before I can begin to pursue what I really want from life: the Truth.

How Do I Propose to Get It?

I suppose I've answered part of that already. Sometimes I feel emotionally lost, but I have to remember that everything I've planned for the recent future, college and military training and every other teaching experience is going to help me get one step closer to wherever I'm going, whether directly or indirectly. For the most part, I just intend to live my life, keeping all options open, and experience everything I possibly can. I really plan on nothing other than achieving some degree of wisdom; how I get that is irrelevant. But once I've lived an ordinary life to the degree I see fit, then I will be ready to pursue my ultimate quest for the Truth.

Karl Linn

Badrose has a written a beautiful tribute to the mothers of these four Marines.