Lambertville, New Jersey, US
United States Marine Corps
PFC, Fox Company, 2d Battalion, 3rd Marines
Lambertville, US, 08/18/2006
Private First Class Kyle P. Donnelly, 19, died Friday from injuries sustained in an auto accident.
Born in Princeton, Kyle was a lifelong resident of Lambertville. He was a member of the graduating Class of 2005 from South Hunterdon Regional High School in West Amwell Township where he was an outstanding football player.
In his spare time, Kyle enjoyed playing guitar with his friends. After graduation he fulfilled a lifelong dream and joined the U.S. Marine Corps. He was stationed at Kaneohe Bay, HI, Fox Company 2/3. Home on leave, he was scheduled to be deployed to Iraq in September.
Kyle was one of a kind. He had many friends, guys as well as girls. He had the same girlfriend from 4th grade until sophomore year. They remained best of friends after their breakup & no girl was ever good enough for him in her eyes. He was very athletic, played baseball & football in high school. He always looked out for the underdog. I remember him telling me one day that he had been captain of a team during gym class. When it was time to pick teams his first pick was the kid that would always get picked last. He told me that it had made him feel so good to see how happy that kid was to finally not be the last pick.
Kyle was the kid who would walk through our yard to my parents house to help me take care of my 92 year old father. Whether it was physically picking him up & putting him into bed, or spoon feeding him, or just sitting & talking to him, Kyle would never complain. His Pop Pop was his buddy & he would have done anything for him.
Although there was a 9 year difference between Kyle & his sister they were very close. He would always joke about what a chatterbox she was & what a pain in the butt she could sometimes be, but he would always let her hang around a bit with them when he had friends over. He would go to her activities to watch & even made an appearance at her school in his uniform when he was home on leave from boot camp.
Kyle had decided he wanted to become a marine when he was in the 4th grade. I couldn’t understand why he picked the USMC, he had no relatives that were marines. I had always thought that he would change his mind & go to college. During his junior year in high school it became very obvious that he had his mind set. My 82 year old mother was terrified of his decision to enlist & I remember one day her sitting him down & voicing her concerns to him about everything that he would go through to become a marine & everything that could happen to him when he would eventually be sent to Iraq.
When she saw that he wasn’t going to budge, she decided it was time for a bribe. She offered him a full ride to the college of his choice. I will always remember his words to her…
“Mom, this is something that I feel very strongly about & I need to do this. Save your money for Megan & give her the gift from me too. When people ask you why I’m becoming a marine, please just tell them that I’m doing this because I choose to & it’s because of people like me, that their children aren’t made to do it”.