OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION
3/27/2005
- Father loses son on 56th birthday
- Marine killed in crash
- Newhall man slain in Iraq
- Vietnam-born U.S. soldier honored after Iraq death

Two area men killed in Iraq

By Gretchen Hoffman and Rachel Uranga
Staff Writers

A 2003 graduate of Canyon High School who was serving his second six-month tour of duty in Iraq was killed Saturday in a vehicle accident between the cities of Fallujah and Baghdad.

Cole Larsen, a 19-year-old military policeman with the U.S. Army, had just returned to Iraq two weeks ago, fresh from a short visit with his family and friends in Canyon Country.

"He wasn't afraid when he left here," longtime neighbor Debby Artega said Saturday night. "He looked right at me and told me he wanted to go back and be with his buddies."

Meanwhile, a second Los Angeles-area man - a 1999 Flintridge Preparatory School graduate and former San Marino resident - was killed in action Thursday in the Al Anbar Province, two months after he was deployed to Iraq.

Second Lt. James P. Blecksmith, or JP to everyone who knew him, was killed Thursday in enemy action in the province that includes the city of Fallujah. He was 24.

Family members believe he was hit by a sniper's bullet just outside the left shoulder of his flak jacket, and either the bullet or a shard of bone punctured his heart.

Saturday, Army officials had not publicly confirmed Larsen's death, but neighbors and friends said his father, Ballard Larsen, was informed of his son's death Saturday morning.

"It's really devastating for everyone," said Barbara Dallis, a neighbor whose two sons grew up playing with Cole Larsen.

Friends of the family described the young military policeman as good with his hands, able to easily fix an engine or a light fixture.

He enjoyed spending weekends in the hills of Canyon Country, riding his motorized dirt bike with friends or his father, as he did when he returned for a two-week leave. Friendly and outgoing, he was always willing to lend a helping hand or flash a broad smile.

But his dream was always to be a military man. At the age of 10, he was riding his bicycle to the local military recruiting office. He joined right out of high school and never blinked over his decision, neighbors say.

"He said (when he was on leave), he couldn't wait to go back. He wanted to serve his country," Dallis said.

While at home on leave, the tall redhead escorted his 17-year-old sister to Canyon High School's homecoming.

Blecksmith, meanwhile, had soldiering in his blood. His father, longtime San Marino resident Ed Blecksmith, was in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. As a boy, JP Blecksmith would dig out his father's old jungle utilities, dress himself for battle and dig a hole in a vacant lot next door to their home in Seattle.

"He'd dig a hole and play soldier," his father said. "(But) I never pushed him to be a Marine."

JP Blecksmith was the youngest of three children. He played football at Flintridge Prep - quarterback - and ran track, making it to the CIF final races in about 10 events during high school, his father said.

He was a peer counselor at Flintridge Prep, and it wasn't uncommon for him to take younger students under his wing, even if it was just to toss a football around with, his father said.

Blecksmith was athletic and intelligent, with good SAT scores, and he was recruited by the Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Md., his father said. There, he continued his football career, playing wide receiver for the Navy Midshipmen.

"He did everything that a father could ever want or ask of a son," Ed Blecksmith said.

JP Blecksmith was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed about 220 pounds after he went into the Marines. His father described him as compassionate, a "good-looking kid," with a good sense of humor.

"He always had time for people," Ed Blecksmith said. "He was a tough kid, to do what he did, but he also had a loving side. He knew when to be a tough guy and when to be a real gentleman."

JP Blecksmith was commissioned as an officer in May 2003 and started his training at the Marine Corps Base Quantico, in Virginia. He returned to California, and to Camp Pendleton, this spring.

After four more months of training, he was deployed to Iraq on Sept. 10. His family was notified Thursday night - Veterans Day - that he had been killed.

"It was devastating," Ed Blecksmith said. "I can't describe the emptiness I feel, the hurt I feel, the pain I feel, as does my wife."

The family last spoke to him by phone two weeks ago and by e-mail shortly thereafter.

"I think he was a little pensive, and that's understandable," Ed Blecksmith said. "He'd been in firefights but never heavy combat."

His father said hundreds of people had stopped by the family's San Marino home since Thursday.

"I think the thing I'll miss most is his antics," his father said, referring to last Christmas, when JP came downstairs dressed as Saddam Hussein, with pieces of an old Halloween wig stuck to his face. "He loved doing silly things."

He is survived by his parents, Pam and Ed; sister, Christina, 27; and brother, Alex, 25. Funeral services are being arranged.

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Rachel Uranga, (818) 713-3741 rachel.uranga@dailynews.com