By Steve Kemme
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rockhold

FOREST PARK - DaVonna Rockhold dabbed at her eyes with a tissue Thursday afternoon after seeing the body of her husband, Army Pfc. Marlin T. Rockhold, the first Tristate soldier killed in Iraq.

She and several family members viewed the body for the first time at Thompson Hall & Jordan Funeral Home in Forest Park as they made arrangements for Saturday's funeral.

"I feel better now that I've seen him," Mrs. Rockhold said. "I didn't know if it would be an open or a closed casket. I feel a lot better knowing that I can have an open casket. He looks good. He looks like himself, and that's what I was hoping for."

Rockhold, a 23-year-old Hamilton native who was serving in the 3rd Infantry, was shot in the back of the head by a sniper while directing traffic on a bridge in Baghdad on May 8. His body arrived in Cincinnati on Wednesday.

FUNERAL

Services for Pfc. Marlin Rockhold will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at Pilgrim Baptist Church, 17 S. Fourth St., Hamilton. Visitation will be from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday at the church. He leaves his wife, DaVonna, of Fort Stewart, Ga.; his stepdaughter, Therashia; his mother, Mary Henderson of Hamilton; his father, Gary Rockhold of Hamilton; his stepmother, Joan Rockhold; a grandmother, Eileen Henderson of Hamilton; four brothers, Keith of Fairfield, Derrick of Forest Park, and Gregory and Anton "Scott," both of Hamilton; and two sisters, Brooke Douglas of Forest Park and Kara "Missy" Henderson of Hamilton. Burial will be at Greenwood Cemetery, Hamilton.

Mrs. Rockhold said she expects a large crowd at services Saturday, including a general and a lieutenant general from the Pentagon.

At the funeral home Thursday, she and two of Rockhold's brothers wore T-shirts with his photograph on them. Above the photograph were the words, "In loving memory of Pfc. Marlin Rockhold." Below, it read, "Rest in Peace 05-08-03."

The Rockholds had been married for 14 months, but had known each other much longer. Mrs. Rockhold, 28, had met him through his sister, Kara Henderson.

Mrs. Rockhold, a former Hamilton resident, has an 8-year-old daughter, Therashia Jones, from a previous marriage. But Rockhold had known Therashia since she was 2 and planned to adopt her after returning from Iraq.

"She thought of him as her father," Mrs. Rockhold said. "She was Daddy's girl. He taught her how to ride a bike and took her on walks. I'm going to try to get her last name changed to Rockhold."

In their final telephone conversation on May 4, Rockhold told his wife that he missed her and Therashia and wanted to eat "some real food."

"He said he was fine, but he was ready to come home," Mrs. Rockhold said.

She said U.S. forces have identified the sniper and are searching for him.

Mrs. Rockhold said she has requested that her husband's friends in his unit bring his personal belongings to her when the unit returns to the United States later this year. She wants to find out from them what life was like for her husband and his unit in Iraq.

"I would like to know what he and his friends did on a normal basis, what card games he played, what they talked about," she said. "Marlin told me he had a lot of stories to tell me when he got back. But he's not here to tell me."

E-mail skemme@enquirer.com.