Cpl Lawrence Mark Aragon, Usmc

Lawrence Mark Aragon, a determined, dedicated young man who was full of life when he joined our Creator last October 31, 2019 in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. He was born August 13, 1999 in Harbor City, California. The second child of Larry and Marilyn Aragon, and brother to Chelsea and Louie.

He attended the St. Barnabas Elementary School where he joined the Cub Scouts. He then transferred to the St. Philomena Middle School. Even as a young child, Lawrence had always been unconventional. He often topped the IQ tests in his class but was unmindful of his academic grades. At one point, despite his non-exemplary grades, the principal chose him to take the qualification test to represent their school. He excelled in those and received medals 2 years in a row. Realizing his potential, his parents tried to encourage him to do better in school. But Lawrence, being the non-conformist that he was did not really care about his academic standing and would rather spend the time watching the National Geographic channel and documentaries with his dad. But Jeopardy was his favorite TV program. He learned to play guitar, played football while still very young. However, he had shown a huge interest in joining the military. That was his dream. He had a West Point magazine with him which he kept in his possession through those years and until high school.

He then attended Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. There, he excelled and through his love for sports and physical activity, he developed leadership skills and learned how to handle challenges. He was such a dedicated athlete that he would forego a Mediterranean summer vacation with family so he wouldn’t miss football practice. Nor did he care to miss wrestling practice in place of a trip to the snowy mountains.

It was about this time when he announced to the family about his desire to join the Marines. We realized it was too late for objections, as he had already enlisted himself long before graduation through their Delayed Entry Program on October of his senior year. The family was apprehensive at first, being that he would be the first in the family to join the military and were not sure if joining the service was something he would like or be good at. As parents, we wanted him to go to college in a university rather than join the service. But as parents, we always wanted to support our children in whatever endeavors they wanted to do in life and what would make them happy. Lawrence became the the first in our immediate family to join the military service.

“Small But Terrible” ~ At bootcamp in San Diego, he proved to himself and to everyone that he had made the right decision. He brought pride and joy to the family when he graduated as one top of the class and was awarded as the platoon honor man.

He was eventually stationed in Kaneohe Base in Oahu where he actually became ìcloserî to the family. He would “FaceTime” timewith the family just about daily. For hours at a time, sometimes. He would ask his Grandma for a particular recipe or just chat with us, his parents and sister, Chelsea and younger brother, Louie. He often called the phone so often that we would jokingly pass the phone around as if to avoid his long talks but he was in on the joke and would still hang on to the phone as long as he could. He was loving and thoughtful. He was always the first to greet or give a gift to someone in the family who was celebrating a birthday or some other happy occasion.

That cold and fateful night on a Thursday, the Angel came and took him from us.

Since then, we found out the MANY lives Lawrence had touched. The many honors he had been receiving while stationed in Hawaii. He was also a recipient of the Navy & Marine Corps Achievement Medal for his exemplary work in the Okinawa Japan Exercise.

He also received the “Iron Man” award for being the most physically fit Marine during the Corporal course in spring of this year. He was hand selected to represent his Battalion and served at the Joint Intel Operation Center.

Those who knew Lawrence, even for just a brief moment, knew a Shining Light was forever lost from all our lives.

Lawrence, we will miss your cheerful smiles. Your undying determination. Your gentle ways. Your random surprises and your thoughtfulness. This loss has left a hole in our hearts. You have run your race.

GO IN ETERNAL PEACE WITH THE LORD.

We LOVE and dearly miss you.