by Vincent LeVine

Created on: February 22, 2009

The Perfect Brother...

I did not know Marine Lance Corporal Kevin Preach. I do know his younger brother Dan, he was a senior at Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School in 2008, and he was one of my plumbing students, where in the shop he was called "Preach" by his friends.

From everything I read about Kevin, Dan has much in common with his older brother. From the pictures, it's easy to see the physical resemblance and similar smiles. Dan admits looking up to Kevin since he was a little kid, "following him around and trying to do exactly what he was doing".

As a high school student, Dan was always a go-to-guy in the plumbing shop. He would help any way he could. On the football field for Bristol-Plymouth, as a tight end, Dan was a spirited competitor, like his older brother had been for Bridgewater-Raynham.

After graduation, Dan had ideas of attending Bridgewater State College and also working part time as a Plumber's Apprentice. He also mentioned the military as another option and that his brother had enlisted in the Marines after he graduated high school. He spoke about Kevin often and the admiration he had for his older brother was obvious and sincere.

Dan came into BP this September and asked me for a letter of recommendation. I knew that would be an easy task, Dan had earned all the praise my letter would contain. I prepared the letter immediately, not wanting to hold him up.

I concluded my letter with "Dan is an honest young man, puts integrity into all that he does, can be trusted to complete a task, is respectful of his teachers and employers, and is well liked by his peers. Without a doubt, I believe Dan Preach will be successful in any endeavor he chooses and an asset to any organization."

When he finally returned to pick up the letter, he had already realized the difficulty he would have finding steady work as an apprentice plumber in the current economy, and decided on enlistment. His decision between the Army and the Marines came down to family tradition; his late father Daniel Preach, had been a Marine and his brother was in the Corps. Dan would enlist in the Marines.

While Dan was in boot camp in Camp Lejeune, South Carolina, his older brother, a machine gunner assigned to Camp Lejeune's 3rd Battalion, 8th Marines, was in Afghanistan fighting a war, his first combat deployment.

As Dan neared the completion of his basic training, statements that Kevin had been gravely wounded Jan. 24 when his Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb in Farah province, were

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