Hawthorne officer, former Marine dies on his birthday
Marine reserve Sgt. Jeffrey Rand, second from left, talks with Iraqi police officials in Karbala on July 3, 2003.
Rand, a Hawthorne police officer, died at his Redondo Beach home May 3. It was his 34th birthday.
Viewing is scheduled for today from 3 to 8 p.m. at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City. Funeral services are Friday at 1:30 p.m.
The cause of death has not been determined. Rand was a decorated Marine who once worked the helicopter security detail for President Clinton.
Photo by Marine Spc. Benjamin Kibbey from DefendAmerica.mil
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Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
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"I LOVE YOU" is the first thing that comes to mind. I met Jeff in Iraq and was his security team that was attached to him during OIF 1. The first thing he did was ask me my name. I said Cpl oakes and he said his name was Jeff. That right there told me he was on the up and up. The next thing he said was what made us get along. He was from Ohio and so was I. At the start Jeff and I had relationship like no other, we connected. We went threw situations that tested our brotherhood and put us in situations to save each others lives. The entire team (you know who you are) put ourselves in danger 24/7 to accomplish the mission statment. From riots, to devil's spit, to the bank, to training, to Grenades. I made a brother, a friend, a...... I found a person that I would sell my soul to allow him to be the happiest man on earth. I cant put into words how much I love Jeff. The man was the smartest Marine, cop I know. He could shoot the hair off a nat's ass. Everyone says Jeffs is watching over us, yes that is true but, I know he is right over my shoulder next to me just like he was when we were in Iraq. This is for Jeff: " Let me rewind time, back to the insident of the grenade. Have the event actually follow threw the way it should have happened to take away what is now." I love you..........
I was searching for old stories and photos to figure out a timeline for someone about my first deployment, and I came across this... I don't know what to say.
I was a silly little Army specialist assigned to the Marines to do photos and stories, and for the couple months I was in Karbala, Jeff took me on in a way that made me think of an older brother; the older brother who can tell you as much about where to find trouble as how to avoid it. He put me under the CA Marines after the whole accountability thing came up so I could duck some Army officers who wanted to make me their personal biographer. When he found out I was headed up to Tikrit, he pulled me aside and gave me a talk that sticks with me still.
Hell, I can still hear his inflection in my head when he'd call me "combat journal."
I guess, sometimes you expect you'll come back across people in the military you lost contact with. It happens all the time, and you come to expect it. There's a lot I'd trade to have Jeff be one of the guys I'd had a chance to catch up with.
I'm glad that if you had to go, at least it was at home, man, but I still wish you hadn't had to go.