Jackson County Marine killed serving in Afghanistan

A 2009 Brownstown Central High School graduate was killed while serving with the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan.

The U.S. Department of Defense reported Monday that Hunter D. Hogan, 21, of Norman, died Saturday while conducting combat operations in Helmand province in southwest Afghanistan.

He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C.

Chase Plumer, 21, of rural Seymour, said he learned of his friend’s death from another friend and called Hogan’s father hoping the story was false.

“I asked him to tell me it was wrong, but he confirmed Hunter was killed,” Plumer said.

Funeral arrangements for Hogan were not available.

Hogan and Plumer last talked soon after Hogan completed boot camp.

“We met up at a friend’s place, and we talked a while. He was getting ready to ship out to North Carolina,” he said.

According to Hogan’s Facebook page, the young Marine was living in New Bern, N.C., near where he was stationed.

“He was ready for it,” Plumer said of his friend’s participation in the war. “There’s no doubt in my mind he knew what he was signing up for. He knew we were in a war, and he insisted that he was signing up for the infantry.”

Plumer said he plans to honor his friend with a tribute at this summer’s Jackson County Rodeo, which is set for Aug. 17 and 18 at Plumers Arena near Cortland. In the past, the event was staged in the spring.

Plumer’s stepfather, Gary Plumer, said Hogan started working for the elder Plumer at his Cortland hay farm at the age of 10.

“He worked until the work was done,” Gary Plumer said. “He was a good kid. He wasn’t a big boy, but he was all about getting the job done and the best that he could.”

The Plumers said Hogan followed his father into the Marine Corps.

“I believe he wanted to follow his dad,” Chase Plumer said. “He started talking about joining up when we were sophomores.”

“His father was in the Marines, and ever since I can remember, that’s what he wanted to do,” Gary Plumer added.

Chase Plumer said there are too many memories of his friend to single out.

“But our fondest memories together were our working together in the rodeo,” he said. “I’ve been recognized quite a bit for my rodeoing, but if not for Hunter and his dad, I probably wouldn’t have ever been in rodeo.”

Dan Davis is editor of the Seymour Tribune, The Republic’s sister paper in Jackson County.

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