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Local Marine Killed in Iraq

by DJ Saturday, May. 28, 2005 at 11:38 PM

A 10-year veteran Santa Monica police officer was killed during his second tour of duty in Iraq, it was announced Friday. Officer Ricardo A. Crocker, 39, was killed Thursday in the Al-Anbar province in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, Santa Monica police Chief James T. Butts announced.

Local Marine Killed ...
ricardo_a._crocker.jpg, image/jpeg, 200x150

Santa Monica Police Officer Dies In Iraq

10-Year Veteran Cop Killed In Grenade Attack

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- A 10-year veteran Santa Monica police officer was killed during his second tour of duty in Iraq, it was announced Friday.

Officer Ricardo A. Crocker, 39, was killed Thursday in the Al-Anbar province in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, Santa Monica police Chief James T. Butts announced.

Crocker was a captain in the Marine Corps Reserves when he was hired onto the Santa Monica police force in 1995. He had since been promoted to major.

"Extremely fit and tactically proficient, Rick's last assignment was with the Police Activities League, where he served as an outstanding role model and mentor for the youth of Santa Monica," Butts said.

"Rick was the consummate caring professional who represented the highest standards and traditions of law enforcement of this department," the chief said. "He was admired and loved by most everyone that had the opportunity to know him and it was just that, an opportunity, to know Rick."

Crocker was single and had no children. He is survived by his mother Jeanette, father Curtis, sisters Marisa and Maria and brother Carlos.

Another sister, Linda, died 11 years ago.

Although services have not been finalized, and his parents live in the South Bay, he may be interred at Arlington National Cemetery, according to Butts.

Donations may be made to the Police Activities League, in care of the Santa Monica Police Department, 1685 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90401.

Copyright 2005 by NBC4.tv

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AP Article

by DJ Monday, May. 30, 2005 at 3:32 AM

Posted on Sat, May. 28, 2005

Santa Monica police officer killed in Iraq

Associated Press

SANTA MONICA, Calif. - Officer Ricardo A. Crocker was so popular that the police chief held his position open for six months while he waited for the Marine Corps reservist to return from Iraq.

Crocker's fellow cops learned this week that the 10-year police veteran won't ever return. Crocker, 39, was killed Thursday in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the al-Anbar province of Iraq, said his boss, Police Chief James T. Butts. It was Crocker's second tour of duty in that country, where he was a major in the Marine Corps Reserves.

"Rick was the consummate caring professional who represented the highest standards and traditions of law enforcement of this department," Butts said at a news conference.

Butts said Crocker, who was single and had no children, volunteered four nights a week tutoring children at the Police Activity League. He once took some children on a trip to Yosemite National Park, friends said.

"He was admired and loved by most everyone who had an opportunity to know him," Butts said.

A phone number in Hermosa Beach listed under Crocker's name rang unanswered Friday.

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Daily Breeze Article

by DJ Monday, May. 30, 2005 at 3:34 AM

Torrance Marine 'believed in service to his country'

Santa Monica police officer was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when he was killed.

By Larry Altman and Josh Grossberg

DAILY BREEZE

A Marine from Torrance serving his second tour of duty in Iraq was killed in a counterinsurgency operation when he was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, authorities said Friday.

Ricardo A. Crocker, 39, known as "Rick" to his colleagues at the Santa Monica Police Department, where he served as an officer, died Wednesday at 6:45 a.m. PDT during the fighting in Haditha in the Al-Anbar province northwest of Baghdad.

"He was a very exceptional person and police officer," Santa Monica police Chief James T. Butts Jr. said. "Rick was a military man and he had enlisted in the Marines voluntarily long before he came on this police department. He was proud to be a Marine. He infinitely believed in service to his country."

Crocker, who was single, was identified by his dog tags and his name badge on his uniform.

A captain in the Marine Corps when he was hired at Santa Monica on July 21, 1995, Crocker had been promoted to the rank of major.

"When Rick came for his interview in January of 1995, his enlistment did not expire until July of 1995," Butts said. "After interviewing him, I did something I have never done, that was hold a police position open for him. We didn't want to lose such an exceptional candidate."

Crocker served as a patrol officer, a field training officer, special weapons team member and, before he was sent to Iraq, worked as a leader of the Police Activities League, a program for the city's youths.

Butts said Crocker easily would have risen through the ranks of his department.

"There was nothing that Rick ever did 50 percent," Butts said. "That includes his service to his country, his service to this city and his service to this department. He was the kind of officer whose humor and dedication to duty was infectious."

Crocker started working with the Police Activities League in 2003, supervising field trips, including forays to the Marine base at Camp Pendleton and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He also taught cardiopulmonary resuscitation classes and a preparatory class for the Scholastic Aptitude Test, and wrote a grant to start a hiking class.

"He was a really happy, jovial guy," said PAL program supervisor Karen Humphrey. "He had a lot to bring to the program. He really loved the kids."

Humphrey said she last received an e-mail from Crocker on Monday. The note included a photograph of him and another soldier holding a California state flag. The last time she saw him was a few months ago when he returned from his first tour in Iraq.

"He was so gung-ho about the military," Humphrey said. "His other passion was education."

Crocker, one of three Santa Monica officers sent to Iraq, served a 15-month tour. Upon his return, he was called back for another tour.

During his brief return to the police force, he spoke about the hardships the troops endured.

"He talked about the uncomfortable conditions. He talked about the missions and he talked about the difficulties in sorting out the combatants from friendlies."

Crocker's family, reached at his Torrance home, declined to immediately talk to reporters. A sister, Maria, notified Butts of the death on Friday.

Crocker is survived by his mother, Jeanette; his father, Curtis; two sisters, Marisa and Maria; and a brother, Carlos. A sister, Linda, died 11 years ago.

Services have not been finalized. Butts said that although Crocker's parents live in the South Bay, he could be interred at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C.

The Marine's remains will be returned within five to seven days to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

Crocker left behind a sealed envelope containing instructions for the type and location of the services he wanted. Family members planned to open that in the presence of Marine personnel, Butts said.

Crocker became the sixth South Bay resident killed in action in Iraq.

Staff writer Doug Irving contributed to this article.

©2005 Copley Press, Inc.

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LA Times Article

by DJ Monday, May. 30, 2005 at 6:03 AM

MILITARY DEATHS

Marine Corps Reserve Maj. Ricardo Crocker, 39, Redondo Beach; Dies in Grenade Attack

By Jocelyn Y. Stewart

Times Staff Writer

May 29, 2005

In the style of a war correspondent, Marine Corps Reserve Maj. Ricardo A. Crocker sent regular dispatches to his colleagues at the Santa Monica Police Department, e-mails and photographs of life on the battlefield in Iraq.

"Two Marines killed, several wounded," he wrote Aug. 21. "I was hesitant to write about this, however, it's the reality of this place. Everyone in the battalion is getting through this."

In the style of true friends, Santa Monica officers e-mailed encouraging messages, sent care packages to Crocker's division and kept a spot for him in the station where he worked: A life-size cutout photograph of Crocker in his combat gear stands in the detective squad bureau.

"It was like he was still here," Police Chief James T. Butts Jr. said Saturday. "We'd see his image every day. We'd read the e-mails."

On Thursday morning, Crocker, 39, a nearly 10-year veteran of the Santa Monica Police Department, was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack in Iraq's Al Anbar province — a vast desert region that stretches west from the cities of Fallouja and Ramadi to the Syrian border. It is now the epicenter of the nation's insurgency.

Crocker's death has been a tough blow for members of the department, Butts said.

It was Crocker's second tour of duty, "and the expectation was he'd be back, just like he was before," Butts said.

Family members declined to be interviewed.

Crocker, who was known as "Rick," was the son of a Navy veteran, Butts said. He spent part of his youth at the El Toro Marine base, graduated from high school in Maryland and then enlisted in the Navy. Later he joined the Marine Corps.

According to the Department of Defense, Crocker was most recently assigned to the 3rd Civil Affairs Group, Marine Corps Reserve at Camp Pendleton. As part of Operation Iraqi Freedom, his unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward).

In 1995, Crocker was still in the service when he applied to become a Santa Monica police officer. Butts took the unusual step of holding the position open for six months until Crocker fulfilled his obligation to the Marines.

"He was just such a quality person, and it was one of the best things we ever did for the citizens of Santa Monica," Butts said.

In his latest assignment with the Police Activities League, Crocker was a mentor and role model to children, taking them camping and on field trips, helping to keep them out of trouble.

"A lot of police officers wouldn't consider that police work, but it is so important for the development of children … to have a strong male figure to look up to, and Rick was that to hundreds of children at PAL," Butts said.

Crocker was a "complex and talented man," Butts said. He held a bachelor's degree from George Washington University and was a few classes shy of earning a master's degree from Pepperdine University, where he studied English and journalism.

During his first 15-month tour of duty, Crocker began writing the dispatches that kept him connected to friends and co-workers. They were written in the shorthand voice of a person in a hurry, but they gave a realistic look into his world: the mortars, the scrambles for safety, the deep concern for Marines under his care.

"Everyone is prepared to reposition," he wrote on Aug. 12. "Fallujah is getting worse … attached is a picture with my view of the trip home … about 5:30 a.m. (sunrise), with some black smoke flying over us from a power plant … kind of surrealistic … just like my time here in Iraq."

After his return in October, officers held a welcome-back celebration for Crocker, who told them how much the connection and care packages meant, Butts said.

Just a few months later, in January, Crocker was called to serve again. He felt that he was letting down the children he worked with by leaving, Butts said.

But he was a consummate Marine reservist, Butts said, so "there was never any doubt that he was going to serve and serve to his utmost ability."

"One of the things that was apparent was he loved those children just like he loved his country," Butts said.

In one of his most recent e-mails, Crocker wrote of several injuries and deaths caused by a land mine, a suicide bomber and an improvised explosive device.

"It's been tough on everybody … feeling numb inside, tired," he wrote May 9.

Crocker, who was single and had no children, lived in Redondo Beach. He is survived by his parents, Curtis and Jeanette; a brother, Carlos; and two sisters, Maria and Marisa. A sister, Lisa, preceded him in death.

Services will be held Thursday in Santa Monica. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Santa Monica Police Activities League, 333 W. Olympic Drive, Santa Monica, CA 90401.

Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times

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