Lance Corporal Nicholas J. Whythe Class of 2002

The recruiting slogan of the United States Marine Corps is..."We are looking for a few Good Men." In late 2003, when Nichalas J. Whyte walked into the Marine recruiting office,the Leathernecks knew they had found one of those Good Men. Whyte, a 2002 graduate of James Madison High School and an excellent student, looked just like those recruiting posters we have all seen. A Marine in dress uniform, standing ramrod straight, looking very intense...that was Nickolas.

In his formative years, he attended PS 221 and several prestigeous private high schools on scholarship, before returning to Brooklyn and Madison. At Madison, he was an out standing member of the swimming team.

He also spent a year, after graduation from Madison in 2002, attending Saint Francis College in Brooklyn Heights but now it was time to let the family in on his goals and ambitions.

Nicholas' dad Andre, a Jamaican immigrant, a Captain with the New York City Corrections Department was not surprised to hear his son express a desire to go into law enforcement. But Andre was not expecting to hear about the Marines and tried to talk him out of it. Nicholas prevailed and enlisted.

It wasn't long before he was sent to Marine boot camp at Camp Lejuene, North Carolina. Upon completion of basic training, he was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine division of the 11th Martine Expeditionary Force. That was quite a mounthful but it suited Nick just fine.

As can happen so often in the military, things moved fast and Nick found himself preparing for his first tour of duty in Iraq. He would be heading to the not so scenic town of Fallujah, an area considered quite dangerous. And so, Nick sat down with his dad who gave him sage advice about being careful and alert at all times. Off he went. That first tour, while nerve wracking, ended safely and Nick returned home in September of 2005. But there was not much time to sit around and loaf. Nick had already been notified that his second tour of duty, when the time arrived,he would be returning to Iraq, Nick sat down again with his dad to have a very serious talk. They both knew that this second tour would be riskier than the one before and they were of course very concerned. Nick's father had a premonition that this tour would not be like the first but he remained calm and as positive as he could under the circumstances continuing to be so proud of his son.

Then the time came to leave. But before he left, Nick had a few arrangements and requests to make. First, should anything happen to him, he named his father as the one who would take care of things. Nick was very devoted to and loved his ten year old brother Triston. They loved to roughhouse around the house and Nick again said, if anything happened to him, his brother should get his weights and his Xbox and he also directed the family to get a new house where Triston could finally have a pet. They said their goodbys and so it was time to go.

Back in Iraq, Nick found himself in the seriously danger filled town of Ramadi in Anbar Province. The insurgency was underway full blast and Nick had little time to rest or even to contemplate his return home in August.

June 23rd, 2006 was to have been Nick's 22nd birthday. It was now the 21st and Nick, who had just days before called his father at home to wish him a happy birthday, was on combat patrol with some other Marines along a dusty, dirty street in Ramadi when the sound of a sniper's rifle reverberated down the street.

Three days later, the doorbell at the Whyte residence in the Marine Park section of Brooklyn, rang. On the steps stood a contingent of Marines in full dress uniform with the message that Lance Corporal Nicholas J. Whyte had been killed in action.

Lately the word HERO is used a lot to describe a lot of people for one reason or another. But in connection with Nick Whyte, the word fits perfectly. Here was a life cut short way before its time. Here was a young man, filled with promise, who knew exactly where he was headed and why and who laid his life on the line and paid the ultimate price.

For young Triston Whyte, his big brother was a superb role model. A good student, an athlete but most of all, a loving and respectful member of the Whyte family.

We too have a tie to Nick. It comes by way of James Madison High School. Nick brought honor to the school and in so doing, anoints us with that same honor. The people at the school are proud that Nick was a Madisonian. Most of us never met him, but the connection is there nonetheless making us just as proud.


Nick, your fellow Madisonians send you love, respect and honor. Rest in peace.

"Sempre Fi" Nick

"Always Faithful"