Plant City Marine killed in action 'wanted to be the best'

Plant City Marine killed in action 'wanted to be the best'

By STEPHEN THOMPSON | The Tampa Tribune
Published: April 30, 2011

TAMPA --
Ronald "Dougie" Freeman was an A student at Plant City High School, where he also took part in the ROTC program.

After graduating, he performed so well as a machinist that the company didn't want him to leave, his father said. When he did, he was told he could have his job back when he returned.

Freeman left to join the military. Always striving to be the best, he chose the Marine Corps, said his father, Douglas Freeman.

First, he had to slim down.

In high school, Freeman weighed 300 pounds. But he worked out, running up to eight miles a day to get down to the acceptable 200 pounds or so for his 6-foot-plus frame.

"It'd be raining, he'd still run," recalled his uncle, Bobby Freeman.

In Dougie Freeman's refrigerator, there was only grilled chicken and tuna.

He signed on in 2008.

On Thursday, just three weeks after arriving in Afghanistan for the first time – and nine days after the birth of the son he would never see – Freeman was killed by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Helmand province. He was 25.

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Plant City Marine killed in action