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Marine is buried in Marietta

By LEE WILLIAMS
lwilliams@TheCitizenNews.com

Friends and family gathered at the Marietta National Cemetery at noon Tuesday to say their final farewell to a 23-year-old Coweta County man killed in combat Dec. 12 while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The funeral of U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Jeffery Steven Blanton was held at the cemetery at the request of his wife, 21-year-old Amber Boyd, and against the wishes of several relatives.

Steven Blanton, Jeff’s father, requested his only natural-born child and only son be buried in a Fayette County family plot not far from his former Senoia home, but Boyd refused.

Jeff Blanton was killed while executing a house-to-house raid in Al Anbar Province, Iraq. Blanton, an anti-tank assaultman, was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, 3rd Marine Division, III Marine Expeditionary Force, Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Blanton married Boyd, a paralegal in the U.S. Army, on Feb. 29 in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii.

Since Boyd is the next of kin, she has legal authority over where the body is buried. But her decision also was contrary to the wishes of the Cobb County native’s mother Tracie Botts of Marietta.

“The mother wanted him buried somewhere else, too,” said Cheryl Blanton, Jeff Blanton’s aunt.

Cheryl Blanton, who lives in Fayetteville, said her family was shocked when they learned of Jeff’s death. Nine days later she is still reeling from the news.

“I think we were all numb and in disbelief,” Cheryl Blanton said. “I am still waiting for somebody to wake me up and say ‘He’s on his way home.’

“I was really hoping,” Cheryl Blanton said. “People make mistakes.”

Cheryl Blanton said her nephew was a family-oriented guy who had a great sense of humor. He will sorely be missed.

His former English teacher Glenna With, who tutored Blanton for the military entrance exam, described Jeff as a person “who was full of the devil, but you had to love him.”

His stepmother, Donna Blanton agreed with With’s description. “He was a character,” she laughed.

Donna Blanton will always remember Jeff’s infectious personality, but it is his bravery she will remember most, she said.

Blanton died just two days after he was given the all-clear by military doctors to return to work after suffering from a foot wound. Blanton, who is recommended to receive a Purple Heart for his bravery, could have gone home, but he told his superiors he wanted to stay.

“We talked to him a week before he died on Tuesday,” said Donna Blanton Thursday night at her Senoia home surrounded by pictures of the fallen soldier. “All he kept saying is he needed to be out there with his men. He was definitely a Marine.”