Lance Cpl. Justin Hunt, 22, Riverside; Marine Was Killed in Combat
Lance Cpl. Justin Hunt’s dedication to the Marines could be measured in pounds -- as in the nearly 200 pounds the Riverside resident lost over 10 months to prepare for the rigors of boot camp.
“He was turned down by the Army and the Navy. They told him he was too big and to come back when he lost the weight,” his twin brother, Jason, 22, said.
The 360-pound Hunt -- who played defensive tackle at Elsinore High School in Wildomar and also competed in shotput, wrestling and discus -- turned his attention to the Marines.
“The recruiter used to come here every day at 7 in the morning and they would go running,” his brother said.
His mother, Debbie, said she reminded Justin that he would have to give up many of the things he loved.
“He always loved French fries, pasta and potatoes,” his mother said. “I told him, ‘Can you go without that?’ He said, ‘Yeah, I can.’ And he did. I told him he surprised me.”
By the time he joined the Marines, Hunt was a muscular 170 pounds.
“He was so proud,” his mother said. “ ‘Mommy, your baby boy’s a Marine.’ That’s what he said when he graduated.”
Hunt, who was deployed to Iraq in February, died July 6 in combat against insurgents in Al Anbar province. He was assigned to the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, 2nd Marine Division, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
His older brother, Robert, 38, a Navy corpsman also serving in Iraq, accompanied Justin’s body home.
From Iraq, Justin Hunt talked and wrote excitedly about his girlfriend Kerry Murphy, 19, in North Carolina.
“He really missed her,” his mother said. “He talked about how he was going to bring her home for Christmas so we could meet her. He said he met his soul mate.”
Hunt tried to be relatively upbeat when he called or wrote home, especially with his mother.
“He did tell us not to watch the news,” Debbie Hunt said. “I had a hard time not doing that, with him and his brother there.”
She said she hoped to get the many pictures her son said he took in Iraq.
Oscar Hernandez, 23, one of his best friends, said he was surprised Hunt decided to join the Marines. At first, he said he was skeptical that Hunt could lose the weight.
However, even when he weighed more than 300 pounds, Hunt was active, Hernandez said. “If he wasn’t moving around, he wasn’t himself.”
Family and friends said Hunt was a jokester who loved playing pool, collecting G.I. Joe figures and watching war movies, especially Stanley Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.”
“We were really proud of him,” his mother said, “and he was really proud of himself. He’s a hero who took a lot of pride in what he did.”
Debbie and her husband, Tom, adopted five children: Justin and his twin brother Jason; Travis, 19; Jessica, 12; and Cassie, 7, who joined Tom Hunt’s three older children -- Robert, Ken, 36, and Lori, 34 -- from a previous marriage.
Funeral arrangements for Justin Hunt are pending, his family said, but he will be buried with full military honors.
