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By Turner Brinton
Capital News Service
Wednesday, January 18, 2006

WASHINGTON- A Crownsville Marine died in Iraq Jan. 14 from an apparent non-hostile gunshot wound, the Department of Defense said Tuesday.

Cpl. Justin J. Watts, 20, an Old Mill High School graduate, was found dead at Forward Operating Base Haditha Dam in Haditha, Iraq, the department told The Associated Press. His death is under investigation.

Watts was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Pendleton, Calif. His unit was attached to the 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Watts was responsible and well-liked by other kids and adults, said Old Mill High School special education teacher Steve Spence, who coached Watts on the lacrosse team when he was a sophomore.

"Justin was a real respectful young man," Spence said. "He worked real hard and was a real physically fit kid, too."

Even after Watts stopped playing lacrosse, Spence said Watts would always come up and say hello to him at games and in school.

Watts became close with his high school weight training teacher, Jim Grim, who taught him for two years. Grim said Watts was a dedicated person who was always happy.

Grim fondly recalled helping Watts train for a school program called Power Club, in which a student must lift 900 total pounds in three different types of lifts.

"Justin was a very strong kid. Not very many people could lift that much," Grim said.

Grim also said he was very excited for Watts when he decided to join the Marine Corps and happy to see him when Watts stopped by to visit after finishing boot camp.

Watts joined the Marines in 2003 and served his first tour of duty in Iraq from June 2004 to January 2005, a friend of the Watts family said in a statement released to the Associated Press Tuesday.

The friend, who the AP did not name, also said Watts married his childhood sweetheart, Nicole Seaton, in May 2004. He is survived by his parents, Jim and Jan Watts of Crownsville, and his wife.

Copyright © 2006 University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism