Chad E. Bales played football. He helped on the family's cotton farm. He loved to fish. "He was a Texas boy, no doubt," said John Wayne Metcalf, the stepfather of Bales, who died at age 20 in an apparent accident in the war against Iraq.
"He was dedicated and strong. People said if anyone was made to be a Marine, it was him."
Bales, a Marine private first class who was based at Camp Pendleton, grew up in Coahoma, a town of 1,000 a few hundred miles west of Dallas. He was a member of the C556-11 Transportation Company, according to news reports.
Bales, who was single, died in an apparent vehicle collision, but the details and the time of his death remain sketchy, Metcalf said. He said sand was blowing and visibility was next to nothing.
As a boy, Bales wanted to be a New York City firefighter. Then, he thought he might be a police officer. He ultimately decided to be a Marine.
"He wanted to do something to serve the public," Metcalf said.
Growing up, Bales was always ready to lend a hand with farm duties. It was grueling work, from sunup to sundown. And Bales was the last to call it a day, Metcalf said.
Bales raised calves and goats, and loved to show them at farm expos. He played for the Coahoma High School football team and graduated in 2001.
"Chad was a go-getter," Bales' football coach, Robert Wood, told his hometown newspaper, the Big Spring Herald. "He was the kind of kid who was a great team player. He gave great effort in everything he did and was always willing to play his role."
The family is coping, Metcalf said, and knows the young man did not die in vain.
"We're crying," Metcalf said. "From one eye, the tears are of sadness. From the other comes proud tears."
