Marine Capt. Jesse Melton III had a dream this past March that he would die in Afghanistan.
His sister then had a dream he would die in an explosion, and his mother soon had a similar dream.
“He told me, ‘Mom, I’m either going to die or come home wounded,’ ” said Melton’s mother, Janice Chance.
“He said, ‘I’m ready to die for my country, and whatever happens, it is in the Lord’s hands.’ ”
Six months later, Melton, 29, died in Afghanistan when his vehicle was struck by a roadside bomb.
“I was just waiting for the Marines to come to my door,” she said.
“I think God sent him that dream to prepare him, prepare us, for this.”
Violent death
Melton was returning from training Afghan soldiers in the Parwan province Tuesday when the attack occurred. He died in the helicopter ride to a military hospital, Chance said.
Another Marine, 1st Lt. Nicholas Madrazo, 25, of Bothell, Wash. — who was friends with Melton — also died in the attack.
He is the fourth Maryland native to die this year in Afghanistan, a country where military officials have said violence is escalating and will need more troops in the near future. Fourteen Marylanders have died in Afghanistan since 2001.
Doing what he loved
Even as the Owings Mills family and community mourn the loss of a man described as selfless, generous and deeply religious, family members and friends say they take solace in that Melton died doing what he loved.
“He knew what was going on overseas and that didn’t stop him. He said joining the Marines was his choice, and he wanted to change the world,” Chance said.
Melton joined the Marines as reservist in 1997, and went to officer candidate school three years later after graduating from Messiah College in Pennsylvania with a degree in mass communications.
Selfless, natural leader
Melton was described as a natural leader and caring of those younger than himself.
The eldest of three children, Melton helped his mother care for the family after his father left following a divorce.
“In elementary school, he would make sure we crossed the street OK, and helped us with our homework,” said Melton’s younger brother Joshua.
“In a way, it foreshadowed what he would do in the military.”
Chance said her son’s military comrades told stories of him buying hot food for hungry Marines, and offering rides to younger Marines — even as drill sergeants were irked at the kind treatment to boot camp recruits.
“Even as a young boy, he was always a gentleman,” said Sheila Jessup, 63, a fellow member of Colonial Baptist Church, where Melton was active in youth programs and even taught Sunday school.
“You worry about kids in their teen years and being attracted to the streets. But he was always determined not to bring shame to his mother, and he never did.”
Melton, who was not married and had no children, also had served a tour in Iraq. His younger sister is an Army captain.
Plans for burial
Chance is hoping to bury her son next week in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, but has been told it could take several weeks.
Chance said she called Gov. Martin O’Malley’s office, which told her they would do what they could to speed up Melton’s burial.
When the family holds Melton’s funeral service, a passage from the second Book of Timothy will serve as a final thought on the Marine captain: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”
“He found the good fight, and he finished his race with faith in God,” Chance said.
“That gives me such hope and pride.”
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