Lance Cpl. Richard D. Warner, 22, of Waukesha, Wisconsin, was a graduate of Kettle Moraine High School. He joined Fox Company in January 2002, serving as a rifleman with 1st Platoon, Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marines, a Marine Corps Reserve unit headquartered in Chicago. When the company was activated on June 1 in support of operations in Iraq, he deployed with them to Babil province. On December 13, 2004, he was killed by wounds sustained in an enemy explosion during combat operations in Babil province, alongside Pfc. Brent Vroman, his fellow rifleman in 1st Platoon. He was the fourth Marine Fox Company lost in Iraq and the 30th service member from Wisconsin killed in the war.
""We will always be so proud of him and his tireless effort and hard work as a U.S. Marine serving in Iraq," his family said in a statement, calling themselves "beyond devastation." 1st Sgt. Cecil Goodloe noted it was "a deep and sad occasion that this has happened during the holiday season," but that the families remained "incredibly proud." His family asked only that we "continue to pray and hope for the safe return of his fellow Marines and a finality to this war.""
"They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old."
— Laurence Binyon