Lance Cpl. Jason C. Redifer

A prankster who wore 10-gallon hats, big, shiny belt buckles and cowboy boots, Jason C. Redifer had a way with horses and a calling _ though not much of a talent _ for riding bulls. He wore his cowboy boots beneath his preppy khakis during high school and once rode his horse to a drive-through at an Arby's restaurant. "He always knew exactly what to say to make you laugh," said Beth Hinkle, his math teacher. "He seemed to have this inner sense about people that he could know what to say when somebody needed him to say something to make them feel better or make them feel important." Redifer, 19, of Stuarts Draft, Va., was killed Jan. 31 when his Humvee hit a bomb in Babil province. He was based at Camp Lejeune. He joined the Marines months after graduating high school in 2003 and turned down the chance at a cushier assignment in the White House guard. "Jason said he felt the heart and soul of the Marines was the infantry, and this is where he felt he could make the most difference," said his mother, Rhonda Winfield. He also is survived by his father, Cecil Redifer, and stepfather Scott Winfield.